


Inazuma Eleven Generation

by ImaginationWorld2000



Series: InaGen [1]
Category: Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Cameo of previous characters in InaGo and IE, Cursing/Swearing, Gen, I take a long ass time to finish a chapter, NextGen Kids, Soccer, long story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 07:53:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5959494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaginationWorld2000/pseuds/ImaginationWorld2000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place 20 years after the Go series, adopted daughter of Shindou and Kirino is enrolled into Raimon Junior High, but Hiromi starts getting suspicious and discovers hidden secrets she's not supposed to know. NextGen and OC's included. Warning: Cursing/Swearing, If you're easily offended by this story with cursing in it then I suggest you don't read this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Raimon Junior High

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, I'm ImaginationWorld2000 or you can call me MAGi for short
> 
> I hope you enjoy this story (and a my other bunch of stories). Please comment. I would love to hear tips and advice from you guys so I can improve on my writing skills.
> 
> And if you don't know some parts of the story, same thing, review and I'll try my best to explain it in the most simpliest way possible for you to understand.

Chapter 1: Raimon Junior High

It was a beautiful day, morning to exact; the sun was shining, the birds were singing and apparently a famous school club was playing a certain sport.

"AND IT'S IN! RAIMON SCORES BACK THE GOAL!" The commentator yelled into the microphone as the whistle blew, signalling the first half of the match to end. The score on the scoreboard read 1-1; a tie between Raimon and Tenton Academy, another famous soccer playing school. Raimon had been invited to play a friendly match against Tenton when they made an extravagant entrance, and by extravagant I mean they ran all the way to Raimon and showed up with sweaty armpits.

As the game continued through the second half with Tenton's kickoff, more students of Raimon stayed to watch the outcome of the match.

"MINAYA RUNS UP TO RAIMON'S GOAL—BUT HAYAMI STEALS THE BALL AWAY! AS EXPECTED OF RAIMON'S MAGNIFICENT DEFENDER!"

Smirking to himself, the rose haired defender, Hayami Sasuke brought up the ball before being marked off by a forward with blonde hair and green eyes.

Gritting his teeth, the defender tried to keep the ball from being stolen as he caught glimpses of his teammates, front and back all marked by Tenton's teammates.

The forward smirked mockingly at the defender. Hayami clenched his teeth, desperately observing for open spaces he could get away. While his blocker focused on keeping him stuck, Hayami looked over his shoulder and grinned.

"Captain!" Hayami kicked the ball, catching the Tenton captain off guard as it was sent flying past him. One of the defenders with an eye patch and teal hair, Nabeshima Ichiro smirked confidently as the ball came closer to him. "Bad mistake buddy," He whispered, preparing to head butt the ball when all of a sudden, a shadow appeared behind the ball.

"What the-"

"AND RAIMON'S CAPTAIN, OMIWARI RENON TAKES THE BALL!"

In a blink of an eye, the captain of Raimon had the ball in his possession, leaving the poor defender in shock and his mouth hanging. The ball had been a pass to the Raimon captain! The captain brought up the ball while his teammates blocked the defenders; allowing him to pass through Tenton's defence with ease.

"OMIWARI IS ONE-ON-ONE WITH KUROU TOROTO, TENTON'S GOALKEEPER!"

The captain halted in front of the goal and goalkeeper, his eyes closed; crouching down on one foot with the ball in front as four sharp edges pointed out from the ground and immediately shot out four silver daggers, surrounding the ball in a rhombus shape. The daggers then rotated themselves, pointing to the left and began rapidly spinning around the ball in a perfect circle; defying the forces of gravity, the daggers brought the ball away from the ground and up to the captain's face. When the daggers stopped spinning, they went back to their original position, but are pointed towards the goal instead; the captain's eyes shot open and narrowed them at the ball.

"Dagger Ark!"

Like lighting, the captain sent the ball flying within an instant, towards the goal as the daggers followed the direction.

"THERE IT IS FOLKS, OMIWARI'S HISSATSU TECHNIQUE, DAGGER ARK!" The crowd went wild; shouting out praises and encourages to the Raimon team. The goalkeeper held a stoic and confident face and crossed his arms.

"Ten Ton Weight!"

Behind him, an enormous ton weight blocked off the goal completely just seconds before the ball impacted with the solid, black surface. The ball and daggers tried to pierce their way through the solid wall defence and seconds later, the daggers disappeared and clouds of smoke replaced their places. The rolling ball slowed down as soon as the daggers were gone and fell into the hands of the goalkeeper who smirked at the Raimon captain.

"BUT IT'S BLOCK OFF BY KUROU'S HISSATSU TECHNIQUE!" The game resumed with the Raimon captain gritting his teeth before running after the stolen ball, "A FEW MORE MINUTES BEFORE GAME TIME, WILL RAIMON TAKE BACK THE POINT OR WILL IT GO TO TENTON ACADEMY!?"

One of the midfielders brought up the ball and made a back pass to their captain before being blocked off, "Natsukata!"

The captain, Natsukata Renji, swiftly slid past two oncoming Raimon defenders that tried to tackle the ball away from him.

"Hinata! Getsuka!" The captain called out to the forward and midfielder who arrived at his sides after escaping from their blockers. They exchanged smirks and the Tenton captain advanced forward while his teammates moved further towards the sides resulting their position to look like a triangle. Behind their feet drew bright, white lines as they connected it with each other with the ball being their point; each one raising their kick leg and bringing it down to the ball in sync.

"White Eagle!"

Behind the trio, a gigantic white eagle appeared as if it was real, spreading out its wings to show the might of Tenton.

As the ball shot towards the goal, the white eagle chased after, flying from side to side as air currents formed around the ball. The Raimon goalkeeper Namayaki Zarou braced himself for the oncoming ball, clenching his fist as he put his face forward. Blinking once, his irises had  turned from deep blue to bright red and his scleras to purple as a large illusion of his new eyes appeared right in front of them. The illusion grew bigger and bigger and looked even more menacing than the last one every time a new illusion appeared right behind the other; until it finally came to an abrupt stop.

"Beast Glare!"

And if looks could kill, then this one stopped the ball; it had impacted with the first illusion which slowed down the rolling process and power. The ball landed lightly on the ground, slightly tilting itself and rolled to the goalkeeper's feet. Just as the Raimon goalkeeper was about to pick up the ball, the whistle blew.

"AND THAT'S THE END OF THE MATCH! AMAZING! A TIE BETWEEN RAIMON AND TENTON ACADEMY!"

The Raimon team cheered for joy as they ran up to the goalkeeper, whose eyes had returned back to their natural colour, to congratulate him for a job well done.

"That was a good match." The Raimon captain whirled his head to see the Tenton captain walking up to him, "As what we expect from Raimon."

Omiwari smiled, "You weren't so bad either." He said, shaking hands with the Tenton captain, "I see you guys have been improving since our last match. Took me by surprise with that hissatsu tactic of yours."

Natsukata grinned goofily, showing his teeth as he placed his arms on his hips, "That's what Tenton's so great at! Surprises! Oh and speaking of surprises, I was surprised you guys could manage with only ten players. And by the looks of it, it doesn't seem that you have any substitutes or anyone else who wants to join." He remarked, watching the crowd of students from Raimon disperse, "If you plan to get into the Holy Road, I suggest you get some team members and quick."

Omiwari nodded in acknowledgment. Natsukata patted his shoulder and walked towards his teammates who were waiting patiently for their captain at the sidelines.

"Let's have another match Raimon!" The cheerful one of the team with dark spiky hair and dark eyes, Rocomoto Yuu, waved at the Raimon team before jogging back to his school along with his teammates.

"You bet!" Hayami cried out, pushing up his round glasses and letting it rest on his forehead, "We'll win for sure!"

"Dream on!"

"I like him!" Hayami said out loud, placing his hands on his hips as he glanced back at his teammates, "Hey guys, why don't we play a little game of Think Fast? We've got plenty of time left."

A chorus of cheers echoed and fist-punched the air.

Omiwari, who wasn't paying attention to his teammates, watched Tenton jogged away from their school. Moments later, they disappeared out of sight, leaving the Raimon captain staring at the open space as his mind pondered about events that happened earlier.

"I was surprised you guys could manage with only ten players. And by the looks of it, it doesn't seem that you have any substitutes or anyone else who wants to join."

"If you plan to get into the Holy Road, I suggest you get some team members and quick."

He was right. Raimon had only ten members in their team and they needed more if they wanted to get into the Holy Road. But how would they even get more? Everyone was still afraid of the incident that happened with the last soccer team they went against. Lost in his own train of thought, the Raimon captain didn't realize that his teammates had formed a circle with him included in and already started kicking the ball around at a fast pace.

"Captain!"

Omiwari immediately threw his head to the direction of the voice, only to be met with a ball hurling towards his face within seconds. Acting quickly, he stepped back and gave the ball a hard kick. Unfortunately, he kicked it AWAY from the circle (and he's never done that before) as the ball headed towards a school girl who was obvious to it. The girl heard screaming from the school's soccer field and turned her head, only to see the ball a few seconds away from colliding with her. She immediately turned her whole body around and the ball went impacted with her stomach.

The force of the ball pushed the girl slightly back but was able to keep a firm footing.

Gritting her teeth, she glared at the ball; after a few seconds later the ball slowly stopped rolling and fell to the ground, not before leaving a dirty mark on the girl's uniform due to all the dirt and soot on it. Resting her foot on the surface of the ball, she ignored the gawking faces of both the student witnesses around her and the soccer club members, inspecting the field for the person who kicked the ball.

She suddenly noticed the Raimon captain staring at her with his eyes narrowed and assumed he was the one who kicked the ball; no sooner did she enter the contest as well, staring intently into each other's eyes as if they were trying to get the other to give out unwanted information about themselves.

Seconds later, she picked up the ball with her foot and she threw it upwards until it reached her chest before bouncing off the ground. She swung her leg behind and gave the ball a hard kick. Purposely aiming it towards the captain who was stunned at the ball coming back to him.

The ball went straight for his stomach and he was able to stop it. He turned his attention away from the fallen ball and looked back up to see the girl gone from her position. Confused, he frantically tried searching for the girl through the crowd of students. His head stopped turning from side to side when he heard Hayami walked up behind him, however, didn't turn around to look at the redhead defender.

"Captain." Hayami began hesitantly. When the captain was serious about something, he doesn't look at any of his teammates and Hatsune, one of the managers once commented that he looked very scary-looking when he does that face, dub 'serious face', and Hayami had to agree with that. Breathing inwardly, Hayami closed his eyes before putting on a goofy grin with his arms behind his head. "That was some kick wasn't it captain!"

"Yeah." The captain replied, still not turning his head around.

"We should invite her in our team, don't you think captain?"

"Yeah."

"Umm... We could find her now or maybe later-"

"Hayami..." The captain interrupted which took the Hayami by surprise.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Hayami formed an O-shape with his mouth. The Raimon captain was probably deep in thought and probably didn't want to be disturbed either. Hayami frowned and averted his eyes to the sky as he repeatedly tapped his toe; a habit he grew up with when he was impatient. Trying to think of something that he could get their captain to talk again, his eyes shone brightly as a train of thought passed through his head.

"Hey, captain," Hayami said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. His grin grew even bigger when the captain whipped his head and glared at him, irritated, "You gotta eat Rairaiken's Special Spicy Supreme."

Realizing what the defended meant, his eyes widened and his mouth hung opened.

"Fuck."

* * *

'The first day of school and you almost get a ball to the face. What a great way to start the morning.'

Hiromi thought as she walked into the school hall. She glared at the dirt mark left on her clean uniform from earlier. Surely a teacher was going to flip at her for looking unpresentable, especially on the first day of junior high.

Reaching the hall a few minutes later, the brunette found a few empty seats in the front rows. Letting her bag fall off her shoulder onto the chair beside her, the brunette seated herself and crossed her arms. Her ankle rested on top of her knee which you would refer to as 'ladylike'. Hiromi became distracted with her own thoughts, not realizing there was someone standing beside her.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

Hiromi's blue-green eyes widened in shock and immediately turned her head to the voice which belonged to a girl about her age with short, blue hair and lighter blue eyes that resembled the sky. Her smile and eyes showed that she was probably kind and caring, Hiromi guessed. She noticed the girl was pointing at her bag.

"Oh! Uh... No! No one's sitting here." Hiromi replied almost hastily as she grabbed her bag and brought it to her lap when she put her leg down. Her cheeks turning pink from embarrassment as she watched the blue haired girl sit down beside her. Before Hiromi knew it she was staring at the girl beside her. The girl caught her staring and smiled.

"I'm Amemiya Sora by the way. Nice to meet you." She introduced.

So that was her name, Sora, a fitting name for someone who has sky blue eyes, "This is my first time at Raimon Junior High."

Tensing up, Hiromi let out an "um" sound. She was never good with introductions, especially with people she didn't know. "Just... call me Hiromi. I prefer it that way." She just didn't know what to say, did she? Hiromi inwardly hoped that she didn't ask about her surname, it was far too embarrassing for others to know and much to her relief, the Sora girl didn't ask. Hiromi noticed her moving her finger like she was writing something in the air.

"Your name means Generous Beauty right?" Sora asked out of the blue, snapping her fingers. "It really fits your name Hiromi-chan."

It caught her off guard, "...Thanks?"

Sora's smile faded and was replaced with and O-shape mouth. She placed a finger on her chin and looked around the area with her brows furrowed with worry. "He's not here yet..."

Hiromi tilted her head to the side to see Sora's hand placed on top of an empty seat beside her as the other clenched the blue ribbon and white shirt she wore, wrinkling it.

"Is there someone you're waiting for?" Hiromi asked, glancing at the opened doors that Sora had been watching. The blue haired girl turned her head and nodded, "He's a childhood friend of mine. He doesn't have a habit of being late, but when he does I can't help but worry about what's keeping him up."

Hiromi laid back on the chair before putting her bag on the floor, she went back to her earlier sitting position, but instead, her hands were behind her head in a lazy manner, "Well let's just hope he hurries up. The principal's about to give his speech, and from what I heard, it's boring." She added with a smirk.

"I think I can agree on that." Giggled Sora, letting go of her worries of her childhood friend as she focused on the principal walking up on stage holding a stack of papers in his hands. A few of them slipped and flew away from the stack which regarded him to go back and pick them up before stacking them all neatly on the podium and beginning his speech.

"Damn right."

* * *

"So you dyed your hair as a birthday present?" Sora asked, pointing to the two coloured dyes on the brunette's twin tails. Each twin tail was a different colour, one being a greyish brown colour on her right and the other a rose pink colour on her left.

"Yup," Hiromi replied, taking a bite out of her sandwich which her father made for her. And he was a really good chef. The first classes of school had been the alright for Hiromi as she felt they actually taught something important to her, BUT not that one class. Hiromi was bored out of mind during Technology class and they didn't even do anything during that class! The Technology teacher, Nagasaki-sensei had a shrill voice and wore small round specs. He had given the class a long and boring speech that took up the whole period.

And it didn't help that he kept stuttering over his words and fumbling with his tie nervously. Half the class were already asleep and ended up on the floor when Nagasaki-sensei shouted in their ears. Hiromi assumed the teacher must have been new to the school or was just really really nervous about teaching.

Putting those thoughts aside, Hiromi munched on an apple she sneaked away from home, "A friend I know is a barber and said that he'd dyed my hair as a birthday present for my 11th birthday. I did it without my parents' permission and I got grounded for a week."

"I guess it makes sense," Sora said, giggling. She tried to imagine Hiromi not being able to play soccer for an entire week.

"It was hell for me. I had to do chores!" Hiromi said dramatically, "But they reduced the days of my punishment because of the colour dyes I chose." Hiromi pointed to the greyish-brown dye mixed with her natural brown hair. Chewing the last remaining bits of the apple until all there was left was the core, Hiromi eyed a garbage bin in front of her. And with one good aim, she threw the apple core and it went right straight in.

'At least her worries are gone.' Hiromi thought, watching the bluenette change the topic to soccer, 'But where the hell is he?' Her eyes averted towards the school gates that were slightly open. The security guard had stormed off somewhere else after an argument with the chairman who came up to check on him.

Much to Hiromi's dismay, she could only see pedestrians walking outside, talking on their phones or chatting together in a group, but not a single student came through the gates. Not that Hiromi would know how he looked like anyway, but was eager to meet this childhood friend of Sora's. When the blue haired girl said that he loved soccer as much as his dad, Hiromi wanted to prove that point by seeing him play.

As she continued to watch the gates, she didn't realize that three pairs of legs were walking towards their way. Sora who was concentrated on her food didn't notice it either until one of them walked past her. The brunette was unbeknownst to their presence, especially the one behind her.

"That was a pretty good kick you made earlier." Hiromi jumped in shock, breaking her concentration from the gates she immediately turned her head around only to be met with a face of a stranger, "We could use someone like you!"

Hiromi screamed in shock. She would have nearly fallen off the bench if she hadn't had good reflexes. Gripping the edge of the bench for dear life, Hiromi stared at the person in front of her with her heart pumping rapidly. He dark brown eyes and long hair tied up in a ponytail. He was wearing the school uniform for boys with his bag slumped over his shoulder.

"Great job Nishiki-san, you scared the living daylights out of her." A sarcastic voice said out loud. Hiromi titled her head to see a boy with dull red hair with two spikes curved up at both sides of his head and had ebony coloured eyes. He was glaring at the guy called Nishiki. Another boy about his age, walked up the group, "Now how are we gonna get her on the team?"

"Come on now Akashi." The boy beside Akashi tried to reason as he flapped his hand dismissively, "I bet Nishiki-senpai didn't mean it right?" The boy had dark blue hair that stood up on top of his head with curved ends. He had lavender eyes and donned a pair of round goggles on top of his forehead.

"Ehehehe... Oops?" Nishiki said, facing his two juniors with his arm scratching his neck while the other one on his hips. Nishiki did an 180-degree spin and faced Hiromi's shocked face, bowing down apologetically before standing up again. "Sorry about that. Let me introduce ourselves. I'm Nishiki Nozayama, the sarcastic one's Akashi Ryomaru and the one beside him is Hamano Takuto." He gestured to his juniors behind him who waved at Hiromi. "When we saw your kick this morning, we just had to recruit you."

Hiromi looked puzzled, "Recruit me? What do you mean? Don't I need to be in the second team to do that? And hold on a second, why are you coming directly to me?"

Hiromi watched her seniors look at each other confused and nervous at the same time. She had been told stories of the school parents who were students at Raimon and members of the soccer team, so she pretty much knew how things work around here in the school, especially the soccer club.

Hiromi was aware she asked a lot at once, but she did find it perplexing they were asking her to join. Not that she would turn down the offer. But coming directly to her? Now that's something she felt like she should know why and she was going to make them spill.

Looking at Hiromi, Nishiki immediately headlock his juniors and turned around. Their backs facing the brunette and bluenette who looked at the trio questioningly.

"Should we tell them?" Nishiki whispered to his juniors' ears so that the two girls behind them couldn't hear them talk.

"No way," Akashi whispered back with a stern voice as he continued glaring at the taller boy. "If we do then how are we going get her to join us? For all we know she could be one of them." He gestured head to a Raimon student standing a few meters away. The student caught his glare and ran away screaming as students around the area shot him questioning looks.

"But she doesn't look like the one to be frightened so easily." Hamano pointed out. The trio glanced back at Hiromi and then back at themselves. "Besides maybe with her help, we can do something about it."

The both of them glanced at the Akashi for his answer. His eyes drifted from their faces before sighing in defeat, "Fine."

"You're new right?" Akashi asked, particularly to Hiromi once they turned around. He didn't wait for her to reply, "To answer your first question, Raimon doesn't have a second team. Not now anyways. And second, you don't know anything about Raimon's incident, do you?"

"Incident? What incident?" Sora inquired, looking worried again, her hands grasping her food container tightly. Akashi bit back his tongue, not wanting to say anything. His eyes involuntarily fell onto the brunette's blue-green eyes and it made him feel like he needed to say it out already. It was like she had this sort of effect that made people tell her whatever she needed or wanted to know.

"Two years ago, Raimon had an incident involving another team they played against." Hiromi noticed Hamano's lavender eyes turn dull with sadness and he stared at his feet as Akashi continued, "During the middle of the match when the other team was about to win, metal bars began falling from the roof and pierced the field. Luckily no one was severely injured, but one the members from Raimon was so eager on winning he still charged towards the goal." Sora gasped, dropping her food container as the contents leaked out as she clasped her hands together over her mouth with a horrified look on her face. The other three seniors and Hiromi ignored her.

"The captain saw it and ran to save him when a bar was about to fall on him. But..." Hamano spoke up, wanting to contribute but stopped short as he fiddled with his thumbs.

"Because he saved the guy, the captain ended up being pierced by the metal bar and died an instant death." Nishiki finished, "Fortunately, the rest of the players were safe. They promised each other they'd come out victorious for their dead captain. But no matter what team they went against, something bad always happens. People are starting rumours that Raimon brings bad luck to others and ourselves, so nobody wants to join the soccer club. They're scared that something bad might happen to them." Nishiki added, putting his hand behind his head and closing his eyes which formed lines on his face with a scrunched up expression, "If only we knew how it happened in the first place."

"The police never found out?" Sora asked.

"There was no evidence of anyone who caused our 'bad luck'," Akashi explained, "So all we can do is stay safe and hope whoever we're up against isn't going to get hurt.

The silence among them lasted only for a few seconds before Hiromi spoke up from her thoughts, "Who was the guy that nearly got himself killed? The- what was he called?- the 'determined one'?"

Akashi glanced at Nishiki and Hamano who shrugged in reply, "We don't know. But I'm pretty sure the captain or Namayaki-san knows about it."

"Who are they?"

"The captain's the guy you aimed for this morning and Namayaki is the goalkeeper. You'll get to meet them if you join the club." NIshiki involuntarily advertised before getting serious, "Right now, we're lucky nothing has happened yet. So I guess it safe for others to join while it lasts."

"All of us want to get into the Holy Road, but with just ten players, we're not qualified to play." Hamano added encouragingly, poking his head out from Akashi's side, the dullness gone from his eyes, "Not to mention, it's a golden opportunity for you to join. You've never been to the Holy Road have you? Last year, we weren't allowed to join by out coach. Said it was too dangerous for other teams and we'd still be eliminated from the rounds anyway."

"That's why we're working our way up to the be the very best for this year!" Nishiki declared, fist punching the air, "So whaddya say? You in?"

It took a while for Hiromi to answer as she was pondering her mind with the story and their pleas. Then she remembered about this morning with the soccer accident.

"When's the entry exam?"


	2. Meeting

'We have to win! For Raimon!' The young boy thought in his head. Picking himself up, he was covered in dust and bruises from the metal bars, 'Get up you good for nothing piece of crap!' The young boy slowly charged towards the goal as he passed every lying body on the ground. They looked dead to him.

He flinched in pain for every step he took to reach the goal with the goalkeeper lying face first on the ground. No. He couldn't pity him. Not now. He had to make the goal. For Raimon.

The young boy halted to a stop when he heard his name and looked behind him to see his captain running towards him with a terrified expression and couldn't figure out why.

"Watch out!"

Hearing a loud clanking sound coming above, the young boy threw his head up and his eyes widened in a second.

His face, his entire body was about to be pierced by a falling metal bar.

Just moments before the metal bar reached his nose, he felt a sharp pain from his side rib which forced his body to fly off in the opposite direction. The boy landed on the ground on all four before rolling a few centimetres away from where he was standing; grunting in pain, his vision had suddenly turned blurry as he tried to focus his vision on the blurry wet red dots on his hand.

It was blood.

And before he knew it, his entire body was splattered with fresh red blood, but it wasn't his blood, it was someone else's. Captain.

Upon realizing it, he directed his view to see a large metal bar standing vertically on the spot here he had been standing before he was pushed out of harm's way, but that wasn't why he screamed that grabbed everyone's attention. It was the bloody arm of the dead captain that showed under the metal bar with the captain's band shred into pieces.

"CAPTAIN!" Omiwari's magenta eyes finally snapped opened. He wasn't even aware that he closed his eyes as he stared into the eyes of his glaring teammate who had probably spent about a good 5 seconds calling his name endlessly.

"W-what?" The captain stuttered and blinked unconsciously. He had never stuttered before. His teammate had the light pink hair and amber eyes as he placed his knuckles on his hips and raised an eyebrow, "You're really off your game now Renon." Yamada Baron said, eyeing his captain suspiciously.

Omiwari let out a "tch" sound and whipped his head to the side as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Just when he thought he could avoid his teammates for just one day, he was wrong. His best friend and goalkeeper walked up to them when he noticed they were acting weird, mainly the captain.

"Hey Renon. Bara." Namayaki greeted with a wave, reaching his two classmates. He seemed to be in a good mood today, then again he was always in a good mood, "What'cha up to?"

"Nothing really," Yamada replied, "We were just in a middle of a discussion of getting new members before our dear CAPTAIN here zoned out."

Omiwari glared at the pink haired boy. He hated it when people used his position as captain of the team to mock him, and like the others this one was no exception as the other boy glared back, equally as annoyed as he was.

Namayaki chuckled and shook his head in disbelief and amusement. To think that the captain of the Raimon soccer club could zone out, "Well this new. The captain of Raimon's starting to zone out. Have something on your mind that's troubling ya?"

Omiwari looked at gave him a dark look. Namayaki raised his hands in front of him defensively, "I'm just asking! A-Anyways, what's all this talk about new members?"

Yamada smiled brightly as he looked at Namayaki with his amber eyes, "Noza's found a student who's willing to join!"

"Really!? That's great! When's the entry exam?" Namayaki eagerly asked, leaning forward and unconsciously raising his fists to the pink haired boy who did the same in excitement. They ignored the "tch" sound made from the captain who peeked at them with one eye opened.

"Tomorrow." Yamada replied, his smile growing even bigger, "And we got another two more extras who're joining too!" As the two "childish idiots", as Omiwari calls them, ran in circles and screaming like little 6-year-old girls in excitement. He silently walked away and left them alone with people staring at them. 5th period was about to start and he didn't want to be late. As the Raimon captain, he was always punctual, but he just couldn't shake off the thought of having people willingly to join only now.

'Freaking thoughts.' Omiwari thought irritably as he immediately ran after his two classmates that passed him to class when the bell rang.

* * *

The next day came fast, the students headed to school, had their classes and the club activities had started.

Hiromi was accompanied by Sora to the field as they walked in silence. The bluenette decided she wanted to sign up for a manager so she could cheer on the brunette.

"You don't think I'll have to take an exam do you?" Sora asked as Hiromi shrugged, not entirely concern as Sora was.

Once they reached the field, they saw the team running laps while the coach of the team and their managers sat and watched them from the sidelines.

'Must be a daily thing.' Hiromi guessed, watching the players slow down and panting as she and Sora walked down the stone stairs. Being caught up in her own thoughts about her entry exam, Hiromi wasn't aware of anyone walking up to her.

"You must be that girl everyone's talking about." Hiromi's heart leaped and staggered back. Like before, she was met face to face with a face of a stranger. Hiromi was lost for words as the man continued speaking.

"I'm Shingestu Nagito, it's a pleasure to meet you." He was a tall man with messy jet black hair and brown eyes. He wore clear circular glasses, pointed shoes and a suit. Hiromi took some time to compile herself before speaking and rudely and unconsciously pointing.

"Uh... hi?" Hiromi wanted to kick herself for sounding so weird. Why couldn't she just introduce herself like any normal person does? Just say "Hi there! I'm Hiromi!" and go off from there! Simple right?

No. Hiromi immediately snapped out of her thoughts to avoid staring and making a face. Thankfully, the man didn't seem to notice a bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He said with an apologetic smile, "After my players told me about you, Naomi and I were quite eager to meet you. Though, unfortunately, I think she'll be running late."

Hiromi began to take a step back while unconsciously holding out her hands, "Yeah, it's... a nice to meet you too... uh..."

"Oh yes, I'm the coach of the team. Sorry in advance to my forgetfulness."

"Yeah..."

Awkward silence fill the air.

The coach clapped his hands together, averting his eyes somewhere else before back to the two girls, "Well, I suppose you're here for the entry exam, Hiromi. Follow me." He motioned to them and walked away to the bench. Hiromi and Sora threw each other uncertain glances before trailing after him.

"Hiromi." Sora whispered in her ear, startling the brunette by how close her breath was, "How did the coach know your name? Did you tell anyone?" Hiromi blinked. She hadn't noticed as she recalled back her earlier conversation with the Raimon coach.

"I don't know." Hiromi finally whispered back. She did find it confusing he knew her name when she clearly remembered she didn't TELL anyone other than Sora, "I don't think I told anyone but you."

"What about in class? Didn't anyone, or the teacher hear your introduction? One of them must have heard and told the coach."

"Doubt so. Our class is the noisiest. There's no way anybody could have heard anyone's introduction." Hiromi shot back as her eyes drifted over to how close they were to the bench, "I'll find out."

Sora eyed the brunette worriedly before turning her attention to two senior girls waiting for them to show up. Hiromi figured they were the managers managing the club.

The first girl was taller than Hiromi with bright red-orange hair that reached down to her middle back with blue to green ombre dye and purple eyes. And to Hiromi's utter belief, the fiery redhead was actually Nishiki's elder twin sister.

"You're his twin!?" Hiromi pointed at the girl named Nishiki Miwana in disbelief.

"Gotta believe it short stack." Miwana replied rather coolly, "We get that a lot so it's not a surprise."

The girl beside Miwana had light teal hair tied in two twin tails, but the one of the right side was braided instead of letting it loose. She had kind pink eyes that looked at Hiromi with innocence as she held a sketchbook close to her chest.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Hatsune Kimiko greeted with a smile. Hiromi bit the inside of her cheek, 'Not this again.'

To Hiromi's relief, Sora jumped in and saved her, "I'm Amimeya Sora! Nice to meet you!" The bluenette instantly grabbed Kimiko's hands who looked at her startled before smiling gently.

"And to you as well." Kimiko replied, "Are you here to join as a manager?"

"How did you know?"

"I saw your name on the form. That's how I knew."

Something instantly clicked in Hiromi's brain. Kimiko had hinted a very crucial piece of information to the brunette who was left to ponder over about it. Didn't everyone have to fill out a form if they wanted to join? If she recalled, Hiromi was never informed of filling out a form, let alone fill out one or was given one. In fact, shouldn't the advisor of the club have the forms. Hiromi was in doubt that she even MET the advisor given that the coach stated she wasn't here. So how? How did her name get on the form if she never has seen it? Unless...

Sora beamed and clapped hands together, "T-Thank you for having me! I promise I'll be great help!"

"I'm sure you will. Welcome to the club Amemiya-san." The coach congratulated before whirling his head at Hiromi, "We have another two students who are partaking in the entry exam. We're supposed to wait for them unless you want to start with the introductions."

Hiromi shook her head, "I rather wait. It wouldn't be fair for them if we were introduced now." The coach gave an affirmative nod and began to call in his players from their daily run.

"Kuroyama! Be careful!" Hiromi jumped in shock and tossed her head over to the sound of the cry. Before her mind could register what happen, her legs took over and she was running towards a pair of students collapsed on the ground.

"Victor!?" Hiromi heard Sora yell in astonishment before coming to a stop before the pair of students.

'That's Victor!?'

* * *

**Yesterday morning**

"Geez Victor." Sora pouted at the navy blue spiked haired boy with lime coloured eyes who trailed slowly after her. Sora had her hands on her hips as she impatiently waited for her childhood friend, "Why are you so slow?"

"Why are YOU so fast?" Victor retorted, jogging up to meet back with the bluenette. He had to endure running after the enthusiastic girl all the way to school, and he sure as hell couldn't manage to keep up.

"Because!" Sora said exasperated for the fifth time in a row, "It's the first day of junior high! Aren't you excited Victor? We're finally going to the same school we've begged our parents for!"

"By 'we', you mean 'YOU'." Victor shot back with a hint of jest as the bluenette playfully stuck her tongue out at him, "Your dad wanted to enroll you into Arakumo Gakuen-"

"But since he has a great relationship with your dad who's from Raimon, he allowed me to come here!" Sora interrupted with a lilt, joyfully skipping on the pathway. It made it easier for the navy hair boy to keep up with her now. But he mentally slapped himself for thinking it too soon.

"Race you to the school hall!" Sora blurted out, giving him no time to register what she said.

"H-Hey, wait up!" He yelled, giving chase to her. Making a swift turn at the gate entrance, it was far too late to stop himself from crashing into someone.

"Hey!"

Victor stumbled and fell on his bottom as he heard a womanly voice call out to him with concern, "Oh my goodness! Are you alright?"

Opening his eyes from the pain, Victor saw a woman with purple eyes and long, wavy strawberry blonde hair. She wore red glasses and a red business suit. She was carrying a clipboard as a man wearing a security uniform stood behind her, stretching his neck to catch a glimpse of him.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you miss." Victor stuttered as he refused her hand and stood up by himself. Craning his neck to the side, he couldn't see any sign of Sora anywhere within the crowd of students. He sighed in exasperation.

"That's a relief." The woman spoke up, jerking him out of his thoughts, "You should watch where you're running. You don't want to get anyone or yourself injured." Victor's face flushed pure red in embarrassment.

"Come on now Naomi. Stop messing with his head, he's a freshman." The security guard named Takashima Irou (from the badge) stepped in, sending a disapproving look to the woman. Victor noticed he was a plumped man and somewhere in his 30's with greying hair and black eyes.

"I'm not! I'm just warning him." The woman named Naomi shot back before turning back to Victor, "Since you're new here, why don't I introduce myself. I'm Naomi Kanon, tactical adviser of the Raimon soccer club."

"Soccer club?" Victor inquired.

"Hmm? Of course! Are you interested in joining? I know it's your first day and all, but I say 'the earlier the better'! Naomi flipped the clipboard with stacks of empty fill out forms for the soccer club.

"When's the entry exam?" Victor asked, flipping the papers until he stopped at one completely filled out.

"Well, if nobody else is interested in joining, I'd say... tomorrow! So, do you want to join?" Victor looked up and saw a pen held in front of his face. Without thinking, he made up his mind and took the pen. He didn't notice the beaming smile Naomi was giving him as he filled out his form.

"A striker. Nice choice." Takashima complimented, eyeing Victor's form once he gave it back.

"I had a lot of experience during elementary school." Victor told them with a sheepish smile as he recalled his early memories of elementary school, "I was named the blue knight during that time."

"Then I hope you'll keep living up to that name Matsukaze/Tsurugi-san." Naomi said as Victor blushed again. Excusing himself, the navy haired boy ran off, leaving the two adults in a dust.

"Well, I'll be off now Taki-kun!" Nami suddenly cried, doing a happy skip, "The soccer club needs me!"

Takashima nodded lazily, waving her merriment dismissively, "I'll see you later Naomi." He watched the strawberry blond haired woman marched off, a woman on a mission, before turning back to the guard house to keep an eye out for late students.

* * *

Meanwhile, while Victor was running away in embarrassment, he didn't notice a really short person in his way and tripped over them.

"OW!"

Abruptly sitting up from his fall, Victor saw the person he tripped over rubbing his head in agonizing pain.

"I'm really sorry about that!" Victor apologized, immediately standing up and offering the short boy a hand. The boy had silver blue hair which fell over his white headband and greyish brown eyes. Victor was relief it wasn't a teacher he tripped over, but couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt rushing into him.

"It's fine, I'm fine. Thanks for asking!" The other boy quickly replied, waving his hands in front of him in dismissal. He graciously took Victor's hand and was pulled back up on his feet.

"I'm Kuroyama Yuuya by the way." The short boy introduced with a big grin, "This is my first day of junior high! And you are?"

Victor merely blinked at his reply before shaking out of his thoughts, "I'm Victor. Nice to meet you Kuroyama." He offered his hand again and they shook hands, "I want to ask, are you the guy who signed up for the soccer club?"

Kuroyama was taken aback, "Eh!? I am! How did you know? Unless... You're joining too right!?" For being an extremely short boy, he could jump frighteningly high. Victor was startled and frightened by Kuroyama's joyous face meeting his.

"What position are you joining as?" Kuroyama eagerly asked, "I'm joining as a goalkeeper!"

A took a while for Victor to compose himself once the short boy had landed on his two feet. No signs of being in pain, "Striker."

"Really!? That's so cool! You must be really good at it, right?"

Victor smiled, deciding to give the short boy credit, "Not as cool as being a goalkeeper. You jump pretty high."

"Really? Heh, thanks. That's my strongest trait." Kuroyama's face turned pink from embarrassment as he scratched his head, "This is awesome! I never thought I meet someone else joining the club! Do you think-"

Kuroyama spun himself around and his mouth suddenly hung open and his face went horrorstruck before his could finish his sentence. Victor was about to ask him "what's wrong?" when he cringed at the loud slap the short boy gave to his face.

"WE'RE LATE!" Kuroyama shrieked, his eyes fixated on the giant school clock. In a blink of an eye, Victor was forcefully dragged all the way to the hall with his wrist tightly gripped by the short boy.

Once they reached the entrance, they silently made their way to two empty seats in the last row of first-year students. Thankfully, the principal was starting his speech on the podium. Kuroyama whispered after the school bell rang, "That was a close one wasn't it?"

Victor wasn't paying attention as he gave a quick reply, "Yeah." He was scanning the hall in hopes of finding his childhood friend sitting somewhere among the students. He eyes immediately fixed themselves on the bluenette sitting about two or three rows ahead of him.

He saw her turned around, not to him but instead a brunette girl sitting beside her who was currently dozing off. Sora shook her awake to which the brunette jolted up with a shock and glared at her.

"What are you looking at Victor?" He heard Kuroyama asked when the shorter boy notice his frozen gaze. Kuroyama shifted his view to Victor's but couldn't find out what he was looking at. He threw the taller boy an inquiring look when he replied, "It's nothing." and looked back at the rows of students. Kuroyama frowned before focusing on the principal's speech.

* * *

It took some time for Victor to pull Kuroyama away from his seat who was furiously copying everything else left on the blackboard before the teacher, Aishima-sensei, erased it. Kuroyama, unfortunately, had been arranged a seat at the back of the class and wasn't tall enough to see over the student's shoulder. Victor sat in front of him.

"Come on Kuroyama!" Victor grunted, pulling the shorter boy's arm while the other was preoccupied with a pen. Kuroyama didn't budge as he continued to stay frozen in his seat and his head moving from the blackboard and to his notes every few seconds, "I copied everything! I can lend you my notes!"

At that moment, Kuroyama stopped writing. Victor didn't realize that the shorter boy had let go of his strength and literally pulled him off his seat. They crashed to the floor with a loud thud as Kuroyama exclaimed loudly, "Why didn't you tell me earlier!?"

Victor pushed the angered boy off and got up, dusting himself. Victor walked out of the classroom with Kuroyama tagging along behind him, still complaining and putting the blame on the navy haired boy.

They arrived at the canteen where hundreds of students sat and ate lunch together. Victor and Kuroyama sat together with a bunch of first years from their class. Victor looked around the canteen, hoping he could find his childhood friend eating in the midst of students.

'She's not here.' Victor concluded sadly as he figured he'd try finding her outside eating. When he was assigned the class, he got into the same class with Kuroyama. He had his hopes up when he thought he was going to be with Sora. He didn't hate Kuroyama, but this was his childhood friend they were talking about. The only person that stuck with him through thick and thin and through their growth together. His thoughts were later completely destroyed by Kuroyama's voice, "Come on. I think I see a table somewhere over there."

Judging by his voice, he seemed to have cooled down about their little fight earlier. They sat down and opened their containers of food before Kuroyama exclaimed, "Wow Victor! Did your mom make that for you!"

Blushing, the taller boy replied back, "M-My friend's mum made it for me."

"Wow." Kuroyama repeated, drooling, "She can cook really well." He was standing on the edge of his seat before falling back on it and opening his own container. It wasn't anything extraordinary like Victor's; all that was in the container was just a piece of bread and some baked beans. Not being bothered by it, Kuroyama happily dug into his food as Victor stared at him with pitiful eyes.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Kuroyama asked, noticing the navy haired boy staring at him. Victor stuttered a "yes" and quickly shove his food in his mouth. But despite the goodness and delicious taste of his mother's cooking, he couldn't help but throw glances at the shorter boy who had little to eat than him.

They ate in silence.

All of a sudden, a loud crash came from where they were sitting. Kuroyama yelped in surprise and dropped his utensils. They saw another container in between theirs with the food contents spilled all over the table and before Kuroyama could say anything he gave out another yelp, even louder than before.

A person was bent over the shorter boy and both him and Victor blushed furiously; Victor averted his eyes to another direction while Kuroyama placed his hands over his head and shut his eyes.

"I said I was sorry! OW!" The girl with fiery red hair bent over Kuroyama yelled out, "That's it, you're DEAD!" She growled as she pounced on the person that had been tackling her.

"Stop it Miwana!" Another voice yelled out through the crowd of students as he pushed his way through. He had messy blue hair and silver-grey eyes as he locked his arms around the fiery redhead's waist, lifting her up in the air while he did.

"Let me have him!" Miwana roared, swinging her fists dangerously at the poor guy on the floor.

"Miwana-chan stop it! You're making a scene." A girl with light teal hair tied in two twin tails, one was braided, and pink eyes rushed in and scolded in a whisper. She clutched the sketchbook with her tightly to her chest. As she stood next to the them, she threw glances at the crowd of students circling them. Miwana heard her and reluctantly stop struggling, followed by an exasperated sigh. She was placed back on her feet before noticing the guy she pounced on scrambling away.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?!" The blue haired boy reacted quickly and pulled her back by the arms, "I'll find you and I'm going to kill you! You hear me ya little twit!"

"Come on everyone, go back to eating!" The blue haired boy called, "Nothing to see here- Ow! Miwana! That hurt!"

The fiery redhead turned her head away, huffing as the circle of students began dispersing quickly before they got involved. She heard the boy sigh, "I'm going to let go of you now. So PROMISE me you won't go after him."

When he got no reply from the fiery redhead, he slowly, yet cautious let go.

"Don't run. Please." He mumbled under his breath. Miwana heard him and grumbled with her teeth clenched. She folded her arms indignantly as she dug her nails into her skin. A hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, taking her by surprise.

"I think you have someone you should apologize to Miwana-chan." The greenette said, sending her a dark look before eyeing Kuroyama who tensed up at her gaze. Miwana scoffed and turned away, "Miwana..."

"Come on Kimiko, do I have to? I've already had enough bullshit today." Miwana spat but cringed when the greenette tightened her grip on her wrist.

"Yes."

Miwana made a face and exhaled with her mouth shut and air blew out from her nose, "...Fine...". The redhead whirled her head at Kuroyama who jumped and began to sweat profusely by the discomfort.

"I'm sorry." Miwana apologized, not meaning it, "There, I said it. _Happy_?"

Kimiko gave her a disapproving look as the redhead turned her back, "I'm really sorry about her. She's just in a bad mood today." Kimiko apologized properly to Kuroyama who shook his head.

"It's alright. I'm Kuroyama Yuuya, first year and this is Victor!" Kuroyama introduced, motioning to Victor as well who gave a wave and nod. The blue haired boy walked up to them.

"I'm Ookami Kaito, third year. The redhead with a tantrum is Nishiki Miwana, a third year too." He introduced as he tried to ignore the dark aura given out by the redhead.

"Hatsune Kimiko. Second year." Kimiko introduced next with a genuine smile, "It's nice to meet you both."

"You too!" Kuroyama agreed, "So... uh, what happened a second ago?" Ookami's smile deflated, "Well, uh... you see... someone pulled a prank on Miwana... and uh... with a lemon meringue pie..."

"Ah, no wonder she smells like lemons." Kuroyama wondered out loud before cowering in his seat with his hands on his head and repeatedly apologized when he caught the dark look sent in his direction.

Victor decided to change the topic when he noticed the other two seniors about to scold the redhead for her rude and frightening behaviour, "So... which clubs are you guys joining?" He saw Ookami beam at him, glad and eager to answer his question much to Victor's relief. He didn't want another uproar to spark between his seniors.

"We're all part of the soccer club. Are you guys interested?" Victor couldn't believe his ears when Ookami said that _all_ three of them were part of the soccer club.

"NO WAY!" Kuroyama exclaimed, jumping up in Ookami's startled face like what he did with Victor. The navy-haired snickered at his action that scared his senior, "You guys are part of the soccer club! We're joining!"

"That's great news!" Kimiko jumped in, sharing her excitement, "What positions are you joining as?"

"Goalkeeper."

"Striker."

They both replied simultaneously, watching the greenette squeal in delight, "I can't wait to see you guys at the entry exam tomorrow! Best of luck to you two."

"Thanks." Victor quickly said before Kuroyama could. The shorter boy hummed and nodded fiercely.

"Can't wait to see you guys play on the field. Honestly, you could say we're desperate for new members." Ookami said with an innocent smile. To Victor, it seemed suspicious but Kuroyama was instantly blinded by it. Victor knew that the blue haired boy was hiding something since he hinted it. Victor knew very well that Raimon was a famous soccer school, his parents told him about it.

'Shouldn't they have a lot of team members?' Victor thought as he absent-mindedly watched Kuroyama speak quickly and full of excitement with Ookami and Kimiko.

From the corner of her eye, Miwana noticed Victor staring at the trio and was instantly alerted of his suspicion. Nobody was there to stop her as she pulled the blue haired boy, catching everyone else by surprise.

"What is it Miwana?" Ookami inquired, confused. Miwana whispered something in his ear while glancing at Victor. Ookami's eyes widened and pulled away.

"No way. We are not telling them." He hissed at Miwana who crossed her arms disagreeing.

"Tell us what?" Victor immediately asked, aware there was some serious tension between the two seniors as whipped their heads at him.

"Nothing. It's _nothing_." He emphasized it clearly to Miwana, "The bell's going to ring anytime soon. I say we get going. Best of luck to you guys tomorrow at your entry exam."

Ookami walked away from the group with shoved hands in his pockets. Victor and Kuroyama blinked at each other in confusion before realizing Miwana and Kimiko walking pass them.

"Bye, you guys." Kimiko waved as jogged up to Miwana who was ahead of her already.

The bell rang for their classes as they immediately packed their food and ran off for classes. They didn't want to be late for class on their first day of school.

* * *

The next day, Kuroyama excitedly pulled and dragged Victor all the way to the soccer field. Victor stumbled with his steps as he kept up with the short boy.

They stood at the very top of the stairs when Kuroyama exclaimed, "Look Victor!" Victor followed Kuroyama's finger where it was pointed right down at the field where a brunette and bluenette were talking with a man, presumably the coach. Victor had no doubt they were introducing themselves at the moment.

"Come on, let's go join them!" Kuroyama didn't release his grip on Victor's wrist and the next thing the navy haired boy knew, he was being dragged down the steps.

"Kuroyama! Careful!" Victor warned, but it was too late. Kuroyama tripped and both were forced to tumble all the way down the flight of stairs before crashing onto the ground with Victor almost squashing Kuroyama to death.

"Victor!?"

Groaning, he was able recognized that voice but when he looked up, he wasn't expecting to be met with another face other than his childhood friend.

"You alright there?" Hiromi asked, looking down at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment please :) It would be much appreciated


	3. Entry Exam

"Victor!" Sora exclaimed happily, reaching the trio as Hiromi helped the navy haired boy up, "You're here! I was worried where you went since yesterday! I didn't see you after school and today morning! Where were you?"

Victor's eyes drifted to the short boy who struggled to stand up due to his backbone almost being crushed. He sent him an apologetic look before turning back to the bluenette.

"I was hanging out with Kuroyama," Victor quickly answered, relieved that he finally met up with Sora. He moved his eyes to Kuroyama who greeted the two girls with a smile. Victor turned to the brunette that helped him, wanting to thank her.

"Excellent, we can start the introductions since you both are here." Victor broke his gaze from Sora and noticed the coach of the team standing beside her with Ookami occupying his other side. Victor's brows rose in realization and spun around. The entire team surrounded him and Kuroyama, looking at them like they were the most peculiar duo they had ever seen.

"Uh... hi?" Victor waved uncomfortably while his eyes moved from one player to another. The coach decided to step in.

"Shingestu Nagito, the coach of the team." He introduced, taking a step towards the two boys. He silently turned his head towards a player who had long purple hair tied in a ponytail. His front hair was swept over to the left with a yellow streak dyed across to look like a lighting bolt. 

He wore the same uniform as the rest of the players. It was designed to look like a lightning bolt split the bottom half covered in blue from the yellow. And running down from the blue collar and straight down to the sleeves were light blue stripes. The shorts were a darker tone of blue with yellow stripes running down each side. White socks and green cleats. 

The only ones who stood out from the team were the captain with his red band and the goalkeeper uniform. Victor noticed the symbol for Raimon on the jersey was a white shield with a red R and yellow lighting bolt on it.

"Omiwari Renon. Captain of the team." He introduced nonchalantly with opened eyes in the colour of dark magenta. Victor felt himself stiffen and couldn't break his gaze. His eyes drifted onto Kuroyama who was in the same state as he was, sweating profusely. They were intimidated. Victor jerked his head away from the captain to see Sora's reaction. She had a strained smile and waved her hand in a polite greeting. He involuntarily caught sight of Hiromi. 

Her action left Victor to widen his eyes at her in bemusement. She had her arms crossed and rather than looking scared or intimidated, she was staring back at the captain of the team with a hard look. Victor moved his head to the captain and back at her to confirm this. The captain's brows were furrowed like hers before the brunette broke eye contact by looking away.

A cough echoed through the awkward silence. "Well, I guess I'm going next." A boy standing next to the captain had spiky albino hair and deep blue eyes as he stepped forward, "Namayaki Zarou. Goalkeeper of the team." He introduced as Kuroyama's face lit up. Namayaki wore the goalkeeper's uniform; it was similar to the jerseys, instead it the top was bright orange and the bottom was a shade of dark teal. Black to white stripes ran down from the white V-shaped collar to the sleeves. White socks and blue cleats.

"That's Yamada Baron," He said, jabbing his thumb behind him at a boy with pink hair with his hair swept to the right. He had amber eyes and smiled at the newcomers.

It continued on from the third years to second years of the team. 

Victor was shocked to hear that Ookami was the team's strategist as Kuroyama interrogated him like a reporter eager for newsworthy news.

"Is hard being a-mfph!" Victor clamped his hand over Kuroyama's mouth and pulled him away from the team strategist. Ookami chuckled as Victor look down embarrassed.

Nishiki Nozayama came next, a muscular forward with curly dark brown hair tied into a ponytail with brown eyes and the biggest grin anyone has ever seen.

Akashi Ryomaru was a redhead with two curved sides at both sides of his head and ebony eyes. His attitude reminded him of the captain. After his introduction, he turned his head away with a scoff.

Hamano Takuto had dark blue hair that stood up on top of his head with curved ends, lavender eyes and donned a pair of round goggles on top of his forehead. Hamano flashed them a small smile and waved.

Minowari Michio was the team's genius with green hair with three spikes occupying the both sides of his head and indigo eyes accompanied by rectangular glasses.

Hayami Sasuke was a cheerful and energetic defender. Both Victor and Hiromi learnt it when he ran straight up to Hiromi, grabbed her hand and vigorously shook it. He, Kuroyama and Sora fought back their laugh.

And lastly, the only mute person of the team was Ichijuu Jin. With spiked peach hair and blue eyes. Victor knew Sora was fluent in sign languages, so it shouldn't be a problem for her.

"I'm Amemiya Sora and I'll be joining as a manager!" It caught Victor off guard. He never suspected that she was interested in joining the club.

"Kuroyama Yuuya! And I'll be joining as a goalkeeper!" Kuroyama introduced energetically. Victor swore he saw an amused face show itself in the albino goalkeeper's direction, "Victor, it's your turn." Kuroyama whispered, nudging him.

"I-I'm..." Victor hesitated as his voice began to drown, "Matsukaze/Tsurugi Victor..."

He felt eyes fall on him, even the captain's eyes snapped open and stared at him. Victor had his head down to hide his furious blush. Thankfully the coach stepped into the rescue.

"And everyone, this is Hiromi!" He grabbed their attention by walking up to the brunette. Hiromi tossed her head at him in surprise, Okay! Gather up!" He bellowed to the team and blew into a yellow whistle.

"We're going to begin the entry exam. When I call out your name, you're going to be assigned to either Kuroyama, Victor or Hiromi. Understood?" There was a loud "yes" from the club members.

"Akashi and Nishiki," Shingetsu called out as the two strikers walked up to him, "You're going to be with Kuroyama." The two forwards nodded and walked over to the shorter boy who smiled at them. Nishiki and Kuroyama shook hands as Nishiki gave him words of encouragement.

"Omiwari, Ookami, Minowari and Ichijuu. You'll be with Victor."

Omiwari nodded affirmatively as he signalled his teammates to Victor who he reluctantly shook hands with.

"And lastly, Hayami, Hamano and Yamada. You three will be with Hiromi." Hayami did a fist punch in the air as he grabbed Hamano and Yamada (who had been beside him) and dragged them over to Hiromi. "And Namayaki, I'll need you to cover the goal for Victor and Hiromi," Shingetsu added to the goalkeeper who nodded and stood in between Hiromi and Victor. Shaking hands with the two of them and wishing good luck.

The coach walked towards the trio, "Alright, Kuroyama will go first. You need to protect the goal." He said to Kuroyama who nodded, "And you two will have to score a goal, simple. Now I don't expect you to get it on your first try but do your best, okay? Right! Everyone ready?"

"YEAH!"

* * *

Everyone got into position. Kuroyama was handed spare goalkeeper gloves as he strode onto the field with Akashi and Nishiki. Standing at the goalpost, Kuroyama readied himself for any incoming balls.

"Remember, don't hold back just because they're new!" The coach called out, cupping his hands near his mouth for more volume as the two strikers nodded back in reply.

Let's see what you got Kuroyama!" Nishiki went first as he backed away and ran full speed towards the ball. With that, he sent the ball zooming straight at Kuroyama who braced himself by bending his knees and having his hands away from his chest. Before the ball could touch his chest, his hands immediately grabbed the ball by the sides and put force on it to stop it from rolling. Light smoke was emitted from his hands as the rolling died down; smiling in triumph, Kuroyama raised his fist in victory as he held the caught ball in his other hand.

"Alright! Come one, give me your best shot!" He yelled out, throwing the ball to Akashi. Meanwhile, while Akashi was preparing his kick, Hiromi who was standing next to the sitting coach at the sidelines noticed he was fully focused on what was going on in the field.

"Show 'em what you got Akashi!" Yamada yelled out encouragingly as red-haired boy smirked confidently to himself.

Doing the same thing, he backed away from the ball.

But he didn't kick the ball immediately; red lines began forming and spiraling the ball. The red lines started to spin faster and faster before the ball was completely engulfed in red smoke that resembled the planet Mars. Little pointed edges that resembled mini volcanoes pointed out of the red ball and erupted red smoke. Akashi then took off and kicked the ball with a hard kick.

"Smoke Eruption!"

The ball went sent flying directly at Kuroyama who was taken aback by the hissatsu technique. Kuroyama suddenly gasped. The red ball had turned itself to face Kuroyama with a large volcano pointed right at him. Red smoke shot out from the volcano like a cannonball being shot from a cannon and engulfed Kuroyama in thick red smoke.

Coughing, Kuroyama tried squinting his eyes to see the ball but the smoke had dust particles which trapped themselves in his eyes. Shutting them tightly, Kuroyama held his hands, hoping the ball would impact with them, but it didn't. The ball zoomed past him, missing the short boy by his ear and scored a goal with the volcano pointed out of the net. The smoke faded away and Kuroyama's eyes became red and puffy from the dust. He stared sadly at the ball in the goal; the red smoke covering the ball poofed into white smoke.

Nishiki and Akashi walked up to Kuroyama and shook hands with him on a job well done. Kuroyama slowly walked back to Hiromi and Sora who reassured the sad boy as Victor went up next. Namayaki tightened his gloves as he patted Hiromi on the shoulder, "I'll be looking forward to your kick." He said and walked over to the goalpost.

Victor positioned himself in front of the ball. He had two midfielders, Omiwari and Ichijuu, two defenders, Ookami and Minowari and one goalkeeper, Namayaki, in his way. Turning his head from one team member to the next, Victor gave a small kick, signalling that he was starting and ran full speed with the ball in his possession.

"Ookami! Minowari!" Omiwari shouted to the two defenders behind him. They nodded and left their spot and ran right at Victor. Victor was taken aback as the defenders blocked him. Knowing it was a trap to lure him, Victor still bounded forward right where they wanted him to go.

Ookami and Minowari immediately jumped into action and went straight for the ball with sliding. Victor, who had seen their trap, held the ball with his ankles and jumped over the defenders' legs which slid past each other.

"What the- Omiwari!" Ookami yelled, instantly standing up. Omiwari didn't nod as he signalled Ichijuu to fall back to block Victor. Omiwari, realizing that Ichijuu and himself wouldn't be able to make it in time to stop the navy haired boy, loudly ordered, "Namayaki! Block it!"

Namayaki who had already been preparing himself for the kick kept his gaze locked on Victor. Without hesitating, Victor gave the ball a good hard kick and it went zooming towards the goalkeeper.

"Beast Glare!"

Like earlier, the ball impacted with the first illusion but instead of stopping, it broke through. The first illusion shattered in fragments as the ball collided with the second illusion. Namayaki forced one of his eyes to stay open as the ball broke through the second illusion and onto the third and final illusion. Unfortunately, the ball had shattered the last illusion and hit Namayaki square in the face. Namayaki was thrown back as the ball bounced away from the goal. And like lighting, Victor ran towards the flying ball in order to kick it into the unprotected goal. Before the ball even reached him, in a blink of an eye, Omiwari had appeared from beside the ball and kicked it away from Victor's reach.

The ball tumbled out of bounds as the coach gave a loud whistle, signalling the out and the game to a stop.

"Good job Victor." The coach praised and patted Victor on the shoulder, "And Namayaki, make sure you don't get hurt on the next kick." He yelled to the goalkeeper who nodded and waved it off with his hand and the other holding his face, "Okay! Hiromi, it's your turn."

Hiromi nodded, feeling nervous inside as she strode onto the field with the ball in front of her feet. Scanning the field, four of the of the 10 members stood ahead of her; two defenders: Hayami and Baron, one midfielder: Hamano and one goalkeeper: Namayaki.

"And don't go easy on her because she's a girl!" She heard the coach called out to the four soccer members who gave small nods however they never broke their gaze from Hiromi and the ball. 

Hiromi took her time and inspected the team members one by one, 'It's Hayami-senpai I need to watch out for.' She thought to herself. Bending her knees the same way as the others to alert them that she was ready, 'If I can get past him, then I might have a chance!'

Kicking the ball, she ran towards them at the jogging pace. Hamano appeared right in front of her. Before he could steal the ball away, Hiromi swiftly turned her back towards him and made 180 degrees turn around his side. Taken aback by this sudden movement, Hamano made himself run after her when she bounded towards the defenders. 

"Yamada-san!" Hayami shouted over to the pink haired boy who nodded with the same thought. Not realizing their tactic, the two boys took advantage of her confused looks passed onto them as they dashed away to the sides, leaving the middle wide open. Sensing something wrong, Hiromi halted to a stop and looked around for the defenders. When she tossed her head behind her, that was when the game got real. Bolting from behind and straight at the sides, the two defenders dived in at the same time to get the ball by sliding as bright red energy formed around their foots.

"Red Mark!"

"Hiro-mphff!" Vitor, guiltily, clamped his hand over Sora's mouth to stop her from yelling out danger. Sora tried to squirm out of his grasp when he tightly held her shoulder the blue haired girl had to endure watching Hiromi get hurt.

In a split second, Hiromi felt two forceful strikes at her ankles and winced in pain. And by the time Hiromi noticed, the ball had already slipped out of her grasp. Acting quickly, Hiromi fell to the ground with her hands pushing her up for support; she grabbed the ball with her feet before they could steal it. Pushing herself up, Hiromi did a front flip with the ball in her possession to get away from the two defenders who were taken aback. Landing perfectly on her feet, Hiromi bolted towards the goal without a second thought. With every step she took to run, Hiromi winced in pain. Red Mark really did a number on her ankles, however, she was determined to make the goal.

Namayaki prepared for her oncoming kick, confident that'll he'll catch the ball with his arms spread out. 

But he never expected her to use a hissatsu technique.

Lightly kicking the ball ahead of her, whenever it touched the ground a bright golden plate like portal would appear. Hiromi halted for a second and made a short jump in the air when the ball came to a stop. While in a mid-air jump, pink petals began shooting out from the golden portal and soared in a figure 8 style around the brunette. At the same time, Hiromi lifted her leg high behind her.

"Flower..."

And brought it down to the ball as a bright golden streak followed after her foot.

"POWER!"

The kick power was immense as the spinning ball wheeled itself towards the goalkeeper as petals continued to shoot out of the ball along with a similar golden streak. Namayaki who didn't have enough time to react to the whirling ball right ahead of him was shot back into the goal when the ball hit him square in the chest.

"Oi Namayaki!" Omiwari shouted, running to the field followed by Nishiki, Yamada and the managers (excluding Sora) bringing along a first aid kit. Omiwari kneeled down beside the albino haired goalkeeper as he let Miwana examine his body for any other injuries. Nishiki and Yamada stood in front of the goalkeeper as the pink haired boy asked concernedly, "You alright buddy?"

Namayaki gave a small smirk and winced in pain when Miwana applied the medicine on his knee that had bruised a bit, "I'm fine."

Hiromi, who was witnessing the injured goalkeeper on the ground, a certain bluenette pounced up at her from the side. 

"HIROMI!" Sora yelled out gleefully and full of relief. She had her hands wrapped around the brunette's neck, nearly choking her with a death hug, "I'm so glad you're not badly injured! I was so worried!"

"Y-yeah... Th...That's gr-great..." Choked Hiromi as her face started to turn into the same shade of blue as Sora's hair, "Sora.... c-can't... breathe..."

"Oh sorry!" Instantaneously, Sora released Hiromi's neck. Hiromi held her chest, gasping for air, before suddenly dropping to her knees in pain.

"Hiromi!" Sora yelled as she called for Hatsune who came running immediately to them with the first aid kit.

Hiromi was sat on the grassy ground with both of her feet bare from her socks and boots; her ankles were both red in colour from the harsh impact earlier and thin little cuts were visible there from the spikes of the shoes. And all because of Red Mark.

As Hatsune sprayed medicine on Hiromi's ankles, Hayami and Minowari strode over to the brunette on the ground. 

Hayami chuckled, looking too happy, "We haven't figured how to get the ball away without hurting the player." He said as Minowari nodded in agreement, "So, we're really sorry about that." He added hastily when he saw Hiromi's severe glare thrown at him, "Right Yamada-san?" 

"WHAT?" Yamada shouted back, clearly he didn't hear what Hayami had asked and shrugged it off when he saw Hayami slap his face (he still had his glasses on).

"But I have to say, even if you had gotten hurt, Red Mark seems to be quite a fitting name." Minowari Michio said, pushing up his glasses as he eyed the red cut marks on Hiromi's ankles. Hiromi clenched teeth. Before she could snap back, the captain of the team came marching towards them.

"What was that?" He demanded with a hard look. It was short, direct and impatient.

"Mind specifying," Hiromi asked sweetly. She wanted to tick the captain off and his eyebrow twitch irritably when she finished her sentence, "Captain?"

Hatsune gasped and dropped the spray, she immediately packed everything back in the first aid kit and ran to Miwana. Minowari immediately pulled Hayami away. Only Sora, Victor and Kuroyama remained there standing with Hiromi who was hoisting herself up with the aid of Kuroyama and Sora. Omiwari and Hiromi engaged in a staring contest once again.

"You better watch your mouth if I were you." He warned and left. The ones who ran away scared had their mouths hanging. Except for Hayami, he was shaking Hamano and rambling on about it excitedly. 

"You better put on your shoes, the coach is coming," Victor said as he held up one of Hiromi's boots with a sock stuck in it. Hiromi swiftly snatched it away from the navy haired boy and mumbled angrily. 

"That was amazing you three!" The coach complimented, reaching them, "Though I would have never expected you, Hiromi, to use a hissatsu technique." Everyone looked at Hiromi. 

He continued before she could reply, "After that splendid performance, I've decided. You're all joining the team!" Kuroyama leaped for joy and jumped in the air to give Victor a high five who graciously returned it, "We'll have your uniforms by tomorrow, so you know where to find us."

With that, he strolled away as Sora and Kuroyama cheered on for their success. Hiromi and Victor exchanged competitive smirks as Kuroyama cried out, "Let's go celebrate!"

"That's a great idea Kuroyama!" Sora agreed as she turned her head to Hiromi and Victor, "What do you say, guys? Shall we?"

"Why not?" Hiromi shrugged as Victor nodded. Hiromi looked up at the orange sky. It was getting late, "Where exactly?"

"Rairaiken's of course!" Kuroyama exclaimed like it was obvious. Kuroyama seized Victor by the wrist and dragged the taller boy away

"Kuroyama!"

Sora giggled as Hiromi smirked at the hilarious sight. "Come on Hiromi, let's go!" Sora said, running after the two boys. Hiromi was about to go after her when she stopped and turned around. She caught a glimpse of the captain shooting her a hard look.

'What's up with him?' Hiromi thought, before jerking away her head to join the chase.

* * *

 Sora and Hiromi managed to find the duo waiting at a traffic light for it to turn bright red at the cars.

"So have you guys been to Rairaiken's before?" Kuroyama asked the trio as they made their way to Rairaiken's, "It's the most amazing restaurant I've been to and the staff there are really nice! Hey, have you guys tried Rairaiken's Super Spicy Supreme yet? It's a limited edition and it's really spicy! I tried it once. Steam burst out from my ears and my face was all red! My sister even took a picture and it was embarrassing! I could show it to you, but it's not with me now. But you really need to try it! It's super delicious! Oh and the ramen too, that's delicious too. Oh and-"

Hiromi stopped listening as she poked Victor from behind and leaned next to him, "He's like Sora, only he can talk about everything." Victor chuckled. He can relate to that.

"And- oh! Hey, guys, we're here!" Kuroyama exclaimed excitedly as he pointed to the restaurant in front of them. They entered the restaurant where a few people were there eating and minding their own business. 

"Yuuya!" A girl around the age of 18-19 appeared from behind the counter. She had short, blonde hair and green eyes and wore an apron, "How are you doing?"

"Fine Umuki nee-san!" Kuroyama greeted cheerfully as he sat at the counter with his friends, "Guys, this is Chigare Umuyuki. She's the assistant chef of Rairaiken."

"Hi!" Chigare greeted just as cheerfully as Kuroyama did, "Are you three friends of Yuuya here?" The trio nodded, "I'm glad. It was Kuroyama's first day of school yesterday and I was afraid he wouldn't make any friends. But I can see now that I have nothing to worry about." She ruffled Kuroyama's silver-blue hair affectionately before pulling out a notebook, "So what would you like?"

"Okay! Just give me a sec." She said as she began preparing their orders while she left them to talk comfortably with each other.

"She seems nice," Sora told, "You must be very lucky to have a sister like Chigare-san."

Kuroyama chuckled as he scratched his head nervously. He wasn't sure if he was ready to tell them, "Well... to be honest, we're not blood-related and well... we're not from Inazuma Town either."

"You're not?" Sora inquired, looking a bit shock as the trio leaned in to listen eagerly.

"Yeah. We're from Nagasaki. Umuki nee-san used to be our neighbour back then... before she moved here. My parents are business people working in a large company in Nagasaki and um... well, they decided to move me here, to Inazuma Town, for better education."

"And Chigare-san?" Victor asked.

"My parents couldn't leave their work, so Umuki nee-san volunteered to take care of me. I'm currently living with her in a small apartment she rented. So basically, it's just been me and her."

The trio didn't know what to say as Victor and Sora shot each other resentful looks which didn't go unnoticed by the short boy. Kuroyama quickly waved it off with a genuine smile. The blue haired trio paid no attention to the brunette who looked at the table deep in thought.

"And one Miso Ramen for Hiromi."

Hiromi's head shot up to see Chigare place her ordered Miso Ramen in front of her. Hiromi muttered thanks as she stared at the ramen before digging in with the rest of her friends.

Hiromi became quiet throughout the rest of the evening in the restaurant. The brunette didn't bother to watch steam burst out of Kuroyama's ears or Kuroyama shoving a spoonful of the spicy food into Victor's mouth or the duo ordering large cups of water to drain the burning heat in their mouths. Hiromi ate slowly, deep in thought as she propped up her cheek with a hand.

'How did he know?' Hiromi thought, staring frustratedly at her food, 'Does he know me? But I've never met him before.'

"Hey Hiromi, what's your surname?"

Hiromi had not registered his question as she was busying herself with her own thoughts, "Sorry, what was that?"

"What's your surname?" Kuroyama repeated, "Sora said she forgot to ask you since yesterday."

"I was too busy talking I guess." Sora added with a sheepish smile before looking at Hiromi with eager eyes, "So can you tell us?

Hiromi craned her neck away from Sora's face, "Uh..."

"Captain-get-in- Ack!" A loud thud attracted everyone attention and whirled their heads at the sound from the entrance.

"Hayami-senpai?" Hiromi said astonished. The rose haired boy was lying face down on the wooden floor of the restaurant.

"You alright there Hayami?" Another voice broke out, but it didn't sound very concern for the grounded boy. A muffled sound came from Hayami.

"Namayaki-senpai?" Hiromi pointed a finger at the entrance. The voice of the person poked his head out from the entrance, revealing the albino haired goalkeeper. Namayaki grinned before stepping inside and carefully over Hayami.

"Hiromi! I didn't expect to see you guys here!" Namayaki said as he turned to the entrance, "Hey guys come on in, it's the new members of our team. And please get up Hayami, you're making a scene." He scolded the rose haired boy who was still on the floor and playing dead.

"Come on, can't I have a bit of fun?" Hayami chirped cheerfully, glancing at the albino haired goalkeeper. By that time, everyone in the restaurant had gone back to minding their own business except for Chigare, Hiromi, Victor, Sora and Kuroyama who waited patiently for the duo to resolve their conflict.

"No."

"Fine." Hayami pouted as he stood up almost instantaneously before turning, full body, towards the entrance, "Are you guys coming in or what?"

"I was waiting for you to get up." Hamano's voice said as the dark haired boy stepped inside, twiddling his thumbs nervously as Hayami patted his back in a reassuring and painful way, "OW! That hurts!"

Hayami ignored the wails of his best friend, "What about you? Are you coming in?"

"Of course, I am Hayami." A stern voice told him. It caused Hiromi to blink and sit up straight.

'Oh please no. Not him' Hiromi thought dreadfully.

"If you didn't have to push me then we wouldn't be in this situation," Omiwari said, glaring at the defender who let out a low whistle and shifted his feet. He had averted his eyes from the captain before letting them fall on the only group watching them.

"Hey! It's you guys!" Hayami said, casually walking to an empty table with Hamano, "And I thought Namayaki-san was joking."

"Very funny Hayami," Namayaki said sarcastically as sat opposite Hayami, "One Super Spicy Supreme please."

Chigare flipped her notebook and raised an eyebrow, "Who for?" 

"Omiwari." Namayaki couldn't help but let out a snicker as he looked at Omiwari already seated across him. 

Chigare smirked, "But I thought he hated spicy food." She pointed out with the tip of her pen pointing towards Omiwari who "hmph" and crossed his arms impatiently. 

"Exactly why it's a good punishment," Hayami spoke up with a broad grin, "And for someone who hates spicy food."

Hiromi could see that the Raimon captain was fighting ever muscle in his body to stop himself from injuring Hayami with an uppercut.

"How did that happen?" Sora inquired with a curled mouth that tried to restrain a stifled laugh. Hayami smirked.

"We have this little game called Think Fast. Basically, it's a fast-paced game where you have to think fast." He said, pointing to his head, "Everyone will form a circle and a person will kick the ball to any random person and that person will have to kick to another random person and it keeps going continuously. Anyone who fails to catch or kick the ball back, or even kick it away from the circle-" His eyes drifted onto the captain, "-will have to do a punishment agreed by everyone on the team."

"The punishment's usually decided first before the game starts," Hamano spoke up. "So the person who lost can't get away with a punishment suggested by themselves."

"Exactly," Hayami said, placing his round glasses above his eyes as he slumped against the wall. 

"Sometimes the game can have one or more losers," Namayaki added, "For example, Bara, it's Yamada, and Minowari had to stand naked in their underwear beside a park tree."

Sora blushed deep red and buried her face in her hands. Hiromi snickered. Victor bit his lip, quivering as he suppressed an awkward grin and Kuroyama gave a muffled laugh from his hands clamped over his mouth. Hamano chuckled and even Omiwari suppress a smile before frowning again when Hiromi looked at him.

"We even have a picture," Hayami choked out. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and pushed his glasses on his head, "Wanna see it?"

Before Sora could shout out a loud "No!", Chigare came marching over to Omiwari and Namayaki's table to serve their order.

"I will not have you show nude pictures of your classmates in my restaurant." She scolded Hayami who gave a sheepish smile and scratched his neck nervously, "Honestly, grow up Hayami. Here you go Omiwari. One Super Spicy Supreme, enjoy." And walked back to the counter with an amused smile.

The ramen boiled dangerously at Omiwari as he stared at it and hesitantly picked up the chopsticks. Hayami immediately stood up from his seat with his phone ready to record the hilarious sight.

"I'll take the video, you take the picture Namayaki-san!" He told the albino haired goalkeeper who slammed his hand on the table, almost spilling the food.

"No way! I called it first!" He cried out childishly. Omiwari glared at him, telling him to sit before they made another scene. Namayaki huffed and reluctantly sat down, "Fine, you win." Hayami did a fist pump in victory.

"Ready captain?" Hayami asked, showing his teeth in a grin as the captain "tch". He could hardly contain his excitement, "Remember. A MOUTHFUL." 

Everyone watched intently as Omiwari shoved a mouthful into his mouth.

His face started to swollen and become beet red with sweat trickling down from his forehead and eyes brimming with tears.

And not a moment too soon, the captain burst out hot, red flames from his mouth. Hiromi, Victor, Sora, Kuroyama, Namayaki, Hamano and Hayami all roared with laughter as Hayami videoed the captain ordering for water, but Chigare was too busy laughing.

"Please, water!" Omiwari said again, his voice hoarse as he held his throat. Chigare nodded.

"Here you go," She said as she placed the cup of water on the counter beside Kuroyama. Omiwari grabbed the water and immediately chugged it down. Omiwari glared at Hayami who was still laughing and grumbled to himself when Hayami said aloud, "You still have to finish it captain!"

It took 20 minutes for the captain to finish his bowl of spicy ramen. And 20 minutes of non-stop laughing.

"Now that wasn't so bad now was it captain?" Hayami asked, replaying the part of the video where Omiwari fell on the floor asking for more water for the third time. Namayaki snicked over Hayami's shoulder at the video. "Wanna watch it?" Hayami waved the phone in front of the captain's irritated face.

"No. You're paying," He pointed to Namayaki's disappointed face, "I'm going." He slumped his bag over his shoulder and walked out as Namayaki paid Chigare. He, Hamano and Hayami bid the four first years goodbye. Hayami stayed behind for a bit.

"We should make him lose more often," Hayami whispered to the closest person, Hiromi, who smirked, "What's your number by the way? I wanna give you the video as a reward for irritating the captain earlier today."

Hiromi thought back when she had been given warning by the captain. Before Hiromi could pull out her phone, Hamano's voice called out from the entrance, "Hayami, let's go!"

"Alright! I'll give you the video tomorrow before practice, 'kay?" He winked at Hiromi and ran off.

The four stayed in silence before Hiromi spoke up, "I think it's getting late, we should go." She paid for her meal, "Thanks for the meal Chigare-san." The rest followed her suit and exited the restaurant.

Kuroyama quickly spoke up, "My house is this way, I'll see you guys tomorrow! Bye!" Kuroyama jogged off to the left side of the street as they watch him disappear.

"Where's your house Hiromi?" Sora asked.

Hiromi pointed to the opposite direction, "Hey that's where we're heading! Let's go together!" The trio began to walk as Sora asked Hiromi again, "Is your house far?"

"Pretty far from here but I know my way," Hiromi added hastily. Hiromi could tell Sora was worried about her safety and seriously was considering on accompanying her, "What about yours?"

"Mine is just around that corner." Sora pointed at the corner in front of them, "I'll go off first, is that alright? Thanks, see you guys tomorrow!"

And with that, Sora disappeared around the corner she had pointed as the duo walked together in silence.

Hiromi continued to ponder over her thoughts. She didn't notice she was walking ahead until Victor spoke up, "My stop is here." Hiromi stopped in her tracks and whirled her head at him to see him point at a corner. 

"I'll see you tomorrow Hiromi." 

"Uh, sure," Hiromi said unsurely. It wasn't entirely her fault, she didn't know who he was. An earlier memory of the events flashed through her mind, causing her eyes to widen in realization, "Hey, wait up!"

Victor immediately stopped and looked back at her before he could disappear behind a wall, "What is it?"

"You said your name was Matsukaze/Tsurugi Victor. Right?" Hiromi asked, gripping her bag strap and walking towards him. Victor averted his eyes to the side, his face turning pink which Hiromi could see under the illuminated lamp.

"I'm adopted!" Victor suddenly yelled before Hiromi could say anything else. She stepped back in defense, "Just because I'm the son of two of the famous Raimon players, doesn't mean I'm famous-"

"Calm down! I was just confirming!" Hiromi yelled out in defense with his hands in front of her. Hiromi caught his confused look and averted her eyes somewhere else, "I... think I know who you are... kinda."

"What do you mean? I only met you today. I hardly even know you."

Hiromi bit the inside of her mouth as she rubbed her arm. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she just couldn't keep that piece of hidden information for herself. Even if she did, he was eventually going to find out, "You know who Shindou Takuto and Kirino Ranamru are?"

Victor raised an eyebrow at her, "Of course I know them. They were part of Raimon too 20 years ago. And my parents' friends too-" Victor stopped short in realization and look at Hiromi whose head was lowered to look at the ground, "Are you saying-"

Hiromi swallowed before gathering enough courage to look him in the eye.

"My name is Shindou... Shindou/Kirino Hiromi. I'm their adopted daughter."


	4. Secret

Victor restrained himself from stepping back. His mouth opened and closed, wanting to say something but he couldn't think of anything. It made him look like a gaping fish. The news was all too shocking. He never thought Shindou and Kirino had a kid! And an adopted one like him!

"W... Wow." Victor choked out, holding his head, ignoring Hiromi's sigh of relief. He was still taking this new and shocking information slowly, "J-Just... wow. I... I would never have thought they had a kid." His choice of words made the brunette look at him coldly, "Adopted! I would never have thought they adopted!"

She didn't stop giving him the cold glare. Victor sighed. He didn't mean to offend in both ways, "...I'm sorry. I-If you're their daughter, h-how come I've never heard of you or even MET you?"

Hiromi moved her head to stare at the night sky in thought, "...Honestly, I don't know either." She said, "I've never met any children of my parents' friends, but I've always heard about them." Her eyes fell on the navy haired boy, "It's childish when they said I would have LOVED to meet them. But I never did."

Victor looked at her with pitiful eyes, "Urk, don't give me that look." Hiromi said, disgusted, "Just because I never met any of you, doesn't mean I should be glum about it. I already have enough on my plate." She shoved her hands into her pockets as Victor stared at her, something clicking in his head about what she said.

"What do you mean, you have enough on your plate?" He approached her slowly, noticing her eyes widen in realization, "Is there something bothering you Hiromi? M-Maybe I can help?" His mentally slapped himself for sounding weak. But can he blame himself? Some girl he meets today tells him that she's the daughter of his parents' friends and they hardly know each other. Victor swallowed, patiently waiting for her answer. He inwardly hoped she'd tell him, 'It must be a lot of pressure by keeping to herself' He thought.

Hiromi looked away in thought. Damn it! She wanted to punch herself for not realizing her own mistake. But... could she really tell him? She hardly even knows him other than the fact they're the children of their parents who were friends with each other. Hiromi glanced at the navy haired boy. He seemed worried about her. Maybe she should tell him.

Hiromi inhaled, "...Fine." She ignored his relief and beaming smile. She couldn't believe she was going to pour out her problems out, "I think something fishy is going on. And I think it has something to do with me." She continued before the new forward could say anything.

"The fact that I don't know anything is what I'm suspicious of." Hiromi said, she hated how weak and desperate she sounded, "You remember what happened in the field earlier right? When we introduced outselves."

Victor rubbed his chin in thought, trying to solve the puzzle she was giving him, "You mean your introduction? Now that you mentioned it, you didn't get a chance to introduce yourself. The coach did it for you." He stated, looking at her in realization.

"And here comes the suspicious part. He knew my name and I have NEVER met him in my entire life before I joined." Hiromi said.

"You mean you didn't introduce yourself before we came tumbling down the stairs?"

"Nice choice of words you chose there." Hiromi complimented with no sarcasm intended, "But no. I didn't. I don't think I've given anyone my name, let alone surname to anyone but your friend Sora."

"She's yours too-"

"I didn't want you to turn green with envy, so DROP IT." Victor felt offended she would say that to him but refrained himself from talking back. He felt there was a hint of sarcasm in this one, "So now you know what's been bugging me since yesterday. I told Sora I'd find out-"

Victor cut her off with a stern look, "I'm not going to let you. I'm going to help you." Hiromi looked at him like that was most ridiculous idea he had ever suggested, "Just hear me out okay? We don't know each and we've just met today. But I have a feeling that someone we know is involved in this."

"Like who?" Hiromi asked, feeling a pang of fear hit her inside. Victor bit his lip.

"Well, we can start with those who you suspect. I think the coach is just as suspicious if you're saying you've never told him-"

"I didn't," Hiromi growled dangerously with overconfidence.

"I'm just saying," Victor raised his hands in defense, "Look, we'll continue this another okay? It's really late now and I don't want to get my parents worried." He glanced up at the night sky with bright white stars twinkling from miles away in the universe.

Hiromi sighed, partly relief that their conversation ended, "Okay. We'll find another time to discuss. I'll see you tomorrow." Hiromi said, turning away from the navy haired boy

"You too!" He called out, watching her walking farther and farther from him. Victor turned his head to his road, about to walk back home.

"HEY VIC!"

"WHAT!?" Victor shouted back, unable to see the brunette's figure in the dark.

"DON'T YOU DARE INVOLVE SORA AND KUROYAMA IN THIS! YOU HEAR ME!?"

Victor's eyes slightly widen. He was planning to tell them tomorrow morning, but if she didn't want them involved then...

"SURE! I HEAR YOU!" Victor shouted back in reply, waiting patiently for her to shout again. Fortunately, it took less than a second.

"'KAY! NIGHT VIC!"

"YOU TOO!"

Victor began walking straight back home, no hesitation and no turning back. If she was going to call him again, he would ignore her and-

'Wait a minute.' The navy haired boy stopped himself short, 'Did she just call me Vic?'

* * *

"Hiromi come on!" Sora yelled with a big grin as she pulled the brunette by the wrist. Hiromi wasn't aware she had fallen back since she was so preoccupied with her own thoughts. Not a second later, they both arrived at the entrance of the meeting room where club meetings took place. Hiromi noticed that Victor and Kuroyama were already there waiting patiently for them.

"Let's go in." Kuroyama said. He moved his hand to the doors, but before he could even touch the surface, the doors opened automatically and revealed only the managers to be inside.

"Where's everyone else?" Kuroyama asked, stepping into the room as the others followed him to meet up with the managers.

"Not here yet," Miwana replied nonchalantly. She was wearing an orange tracksuit with her sleeves rolled up and was wiping a dirty soccer ball with a cloth, "We come here early to make sure everything's clean and tidy for the team." She threw the squeaky clean ball in with the rest of the tidy balls in the basket, "Done."

"I knew it was too early to come here." Hiromi muttered to herself as Kuroyama and Sora blushed. After all, they WERE the ones who dragged her and Victor here. Hiromi lost count of how many times Sora had to pull her out of her thoughts here because of slight sleep deprivation. She didn't get enough sleep because of the questions that haunted her mind last night.

"Well, since you're here, why not we give you your uniforms." Kimiko suggested. She was wearing a light green tracksuit and walked away to bring them their uniforms. Hiromi decided to take advatage of the short time frame and look around.

The room had lockers at the back and seats for the whole team in the front. And at the very front of the room was a gigantic white screen and a projector stuck to the ceiling to project projections onto the screen.

"Here you go." Hiromi blinked away from the lockers at the back and noticed the greenette standing in front of her with her jersey and jacket in her hands. Hiromi assumed she had already given to the boys, "There's a girls changing room next door, I can bring you there later."

"Thanks." Hiromi said, taking the clothes. She glanced at Kuroyama holding out his goalkeeper uniform and shoving it in the forward's face excitedly. The design was similar to the original uniform, but the colour scheme was different with blue on the top and brown on the bottom. Same white socks and green cleats.

Hiromi turned away to focus on her uniform. Curious, she set aside the rest of the uniform (which Kimiko generously offered to hold) to get an eyeful of the yellow jersey. It was identical to other players' jerseys; yellow on the top, blue at the bottom and collar and light blue stripes. The only difference was the number on the back when Hiromi turned it around.

"Number 8." Sora breathed from behind Hiromi's shoulder which made the latter shiver from the close presence. Sora, Victor, Kuroyama and Miwana crowded around the brunette to catch a glimpse of the number in blue, "Isn't that the only position left that the team doesn't have?"

"Only position left? What do you mean by that?" Hiromi inquired, stealing a glance at the bluenette who backed away along with the others to respect her privacy bubble. Hiromi turned to the greenette for an answer who smiled innocently.

"You know how there's only ten members who play on the team right? Before you guys joined." Sora asked, about to answer her own question, "Well, turns out they were missing another teammate to complete the entire team and that's yours."

She pointed to the jersey in the brunette's hands, "If I'm not mistaken, I think the previous player was a midfielder. And you fit the position perfectly!"

Sora did a happy skip as she took in the stares from her friends and managers uncomfortably.

"So... I'm wearing someone else's clothes?" Hiromi asked deadpanned with a slight feeling of disgust.

Sora turned red, about to correct her while the others laughed loudly.

"No. Of course you're not." Kimiko said before Sora could, "The other jersey was too big, since our last player had a big build. This one was entirely made for your size."

"How do you know my size?" Hiromi asked skecptically with her brows furrowed at the green haired manager. Kimiko looked equally confused as Hiromi.

"Didn't you say so on your form?" Hiromi's eyes widen. Form?

"What form-"

Hiromi was cut off from the sounds of the door opened and revealed the captain of the team striding in with his hands shoved in his pockets. He was followed by Namayaki and Yamada into the room.

"Oh hey, you guys are here early." Namayaki said, walking up to the group as Omiwari and Yamada went to a connected room leading to the boys changing room. Hiromi growled softly to herself for being interrupted, "I see you guys have your uniforms. Better change into it now, the others will be arriving soon. Come on, I'll show you the boys changing room." He said as he motioned Victor and Kuroyama to follow him.

"Come on, we'll show you the girls changing room." Kimiko said, "You come too Amemiya-san, we have a tracksuit for you."

"Please, just call me Sora." Sora replied with a smile, ignoring the irritated brunette as they followed the two managers to another connected room.

"Then you can call me Kimiko and her Miwana."

* * *

"What do you mean I filled out a form? I never did!"

"Hiromi, calm down-"

"I'm just as equally confused as you are! I really am! We were given the form with your name on it, a-and almost everything else about you! Even the back of the paper had a very detailed decription of you! And I thought you just had a sore eye for detail-!"

"Hiromi!"

Hiromi stormed out of the changing rooms and found Victor and Kuroyama seated together in the first row. Their jackets were similar to the one Hiromi wore. On the higher half of the jacket was light yellow and the bottom light blue. The sleeves were in the colours of dark blue on the outside and yellow on the inside. The pants were dark blue as well with two yellow stripes just above the hems of the pants. And the turtleneck of the jacket was striped with light yellow in the middle.

Hiromi also noticed a few more members of the team were there seated; Minowari, Ichijuu and Hamano, but she was too enraged to care about them.

With her hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket, she begrudgingly sat beside Victor. She caught a glimpse of Sora, in her light blue tracksuit, scurrying over to the big screen along with the other managers.

Victor noticed the brunette's anger, "Did something happen in the changing rooms? I heard someone shouting-"

"I could ask you the same thing." Hiromi interuppted rudely, hearing vauge shouting coming from the boys changing room.

"Yamada-san and Namayaki-san had a bet. Now tell me what's wrong." His eyes shifted over to Kuroyama who was obvious to their conversation, "I promised I'd help you."

Hiromi pursed her lips, "Fine... I- What happened to you?"

The three seniors had returned from the changing room and Namayaki had a towel draped around his neck and his albino hair was wet. He sat behind the duo, "I lost a bet and to put my face in a bucket of water." He replied, drapping the tower over his head.

"Hiromi..." Victor began sternly, partly caring whether she had asked the goalkeeper on purpose.

"I-"

"You guys have to watch this!" Nishiki pulled the trio out of their seats and over to crowd with loud laughter. Apparently, Hayami was showing the team the video he had taken of the captain eating the spicy ramen and they had gathered around him to watch it.

Forced to watch, Hiromi couldn't help but still laugh before shutting her mouth when she felt someone bump into her. It was the captain.

Hiromi had never wanted even more than to pull herself out of the crowd and avoid him. But nooo, she was stuck there with the captain by her side.

Hiromi heard the captain grouse. His eyebrow twitched irritatedly until her eyes involutarilly drifted to the sleeve of his jacket. Hiromi could see a large badge with the Raimon symbol clipped onto it and wondered about it's importance. With one big push, Hiromi was able to free herself from the crowd. As for her friends... let's just say they weren't so lucky as her in escaping.

"Hey Hiromi!" Hayami called cheerfully, bouncing up in her face, "I can call you that right? Great! Remember what I said yesterday? I wanna give you the video as a reward."

Hiromi formed an O-shape with her mouth.

"Uh, actually Hayami-senpai-"

"Don't have to call me senpai." He cut in amiabley.

"Uh, right, Hayami-san. I don't think I want the video anymore. You can keep it." Hiromi backed away.

"Oh." Hayami said, his smile deflating before giving a sad smile, "But I still wanna give it to you. You don't even have to watch it!" He added hastily, praying hard she would accept by mustering up the biggest pouty face he could. Hiromi attempted to turn away, but the redhead's face always inched itself closer to her face.

"Fine." Hiromi sighed in defeat. She ignored the victory face Hayami made along with a fist punch as she snatched his phone away from his grasp and begrudgingly entered her contact.

"There, done." She said, handing back the phone to Hayami, "By the way, why is it pink?"

"Oh, this belongs to my sister. I lost a bet to Yamada-san and had to swap phones with my sister for a month." Hayami answered, waving the phone.

"I see everyone's here?" A loud voice called out. Everyone whirled their heads over to the source and saw the coach and a strawberry blond woman with a clipboard standing at the entrance with smiling faces.

"Coach!" Nearly everyone yelled as they dashed back to their seats while the managers resumed to their position beside the big screen. The coach and the strawberry blonde woman walked up to the big screen. Hiromi had never seen the woman in the club before  and assumed she was the tactical advisor of the club.

"I know we've done our introductions, but I want to introduce the new members to our tactical advisor, Naomi Kanon." Naomi waved at the three first years with a smile, "Let's get started then, shall we? Naomi?"

The strawberry blonde woman nodded and took off her red glasses. And at that very same moment, a hole opened up on the floor and out came a small, white table. Hiromi, Victor, Kuroyama and Sora all gasp in amazement. Naomi then walked up to it and placed her glasses on top of the table; the table glowed a bright white and a projection was projected onto the big screen.

"The table's connected to the projector, but you can't just put anything on it to make it activate. The table's programmed to accept Naomi-san's glasses, the coach's keys and the captain's badge. The one clipped onto his sleeve." Hayami whispered to the trio. He was sitting beside Namayaki on the second row.

The projection showed a logo that said Holy Road.

"Holy Road." Hiromi whispered to herself, leaning forward and eager to listen.

The coach smiled at the faces that lit up the whole room, "So, as you all know, the Holy Road is coming up soon. And I know this may be a rush to the new ones, but it's a golden opportunity we can't miss!"

The coach pulled out a small remote controller and pressed a green button. The screen showed a picture of the Holy Road Stadium, "For those who don't know about the Holy Road, it's a soccer tournament where soccer teams will have to go against each other."

The picture changed into a bird's eye view of the stadium.

"The stadium is besieged into a Russian Roulette. Two teams will be chosen to go against each other in any of the stadiums and the one who wins will get to advance to next stadium with their next opponent and so on."

The coach pressed a big red button and the projection offed with a silent zap.

"The Holy Road tournament is about in a week's time and I've already registered our team to join."

The team cheered. Even Kuroyama joined in before his smile turned upside down to which the coach caught sight of.

"And though it's a rush to the new members," He added, nearly missing Kuroyama's head that shot up, "I'm confident you'll get through this full week of soccer practice." The coach flashed a smile in Kuroyama's way who felt reassured, "And I hope everyone will get along, especially you Omiwari." All eyes looked upon the captain of Raimon who had his eyes closed. A few snickered as Hiromi smirked. It was going to be fun taunting him during practices as the coach continued, "Now that's that, let's practice!"

The whole team thundered again; most of them sped off to the changing rooms once Naomi took back her glasses and the table whirled itself all the way back into the floor.

Victor who was the last to enter the changing rooms stopped himself to see Hiromi walking straight up to the coach and Naomi. It sparked his curiosity and expectancy.

"Is there anything wrong Hiromi?" The coach asked, noticing the brunette walk up to them. Hiromi's right eye twitched at how freely he called her name. She refrained herself from asking about her name.

"I... I actually wanted to see my form." Hiromi said, noticing Naomi's eyes widen, "I was told I filled out the form, but-"

"You never did, did you?" Naomi finished. She started to fevereshily flip the pages on the clipboard until her heart stopped at a certain paper, "Here! Look at it!" Naomi shoved the clipboard into Hiromi's alerted hands. Like she expected to see, a neat application form was filled from top to bottom, with her full name being the first thing she laid her eyes on.

"I found it on my desk in the staff rooms. None of the staff had seen anyone come to my desk and put it there."

Hiromi's heart stopped when she unclipped the form from the clipboard and turn it around. There, staring back at her was a neatly written and long description of her. But it wasn't written in first person, like someone had been stalking her with a good eye.

'A girl with brown hair and blue-green eyes. She posses both the abilities of a good midfielder and defender, thus making her very strong against her opponents. As a midfielder, she is a very agile runner and can make close calls when it comes to stealing the ball or preventing an out once she's bounded across the field of the opposing team. While as a defender, she has eyes like a hawk and can scan the field in a few minutes. She also has an eye for watching how a team plays and their players' every movement and uses it to her advantage to figure out their plan.'

Hiromi couldn't handle it and pulled away from the form, "Naomi-san, I think I'm going to hold onto this." Naomi nodded understandingly, clutching the clipboard, terrified and looking as pale as a ghost.

Hiromi stuffed the form in her pocket and ran off to the changing rooms where the girls were waiting for her. Not knowing Victor had been watching, the navy haired boy hastily joined the boys in the room before he could be caught red handed by the adults.

* * *

"Keep your pace up Kuroyama!" The captain shouted at the shorter boy who struggled to keep up.

Once everyone had gathered outside, the captain had made them run three laps around the field as it was a daily thing to do during the start of every soccer practice. Kuroyama, along with Minowari and Ichijuu (he fell back to accompany Minowari) were at the very back of the team and the captain just frighteningly behind them. Hiromi was just in front of Victor and behind Nishiki. The brunette tried her best to avoid the captain during the run but he was either behind her or by her side when she jinxed it.

"This is a daily thing right?" Sora asked Naomi after turning away from watching Hiromi run away from the captain. She received a confirming nod.

"We're doing offense against defense. Kuroyama, you'll be the goalkeeper for the defense team." Omiwari said, being the last to join the team crowded around the bench. Kuroyama nodded with his chest puffed out. Namayaki wished him good luck and sat down on the bench, "Akashi, you're swapping places with Victor for forward." Begrudgingly, the silent redhead went to join the albino goalkeeper, "Since today's the first day for the new members, I want to see how well you all play when you're in a team. We're starting!" He called out to the coach who nodded knowingly as the captain started telling the positions to the new members.

Victor was placed in front with Nishiki of the offense side; Hiromi, Omiwari, Hamano's and Ichijuu stood behind them.  The defenders, Minowari, Hayami, Yamada and Ookami stood in front of when Kuroyama stood as the goalkeeper.

The coach stood up and blew the whistle, signaling the game to start. Nishiki passed the ball to Victor as they sped off with the midfielders in pursue. Victor was stopped short when Ookami and Minowari came near and blocked him.

"Hiromi!" He yelled passing it to the brunette behind him. Hiromi caught the ball and like Victor was blocked almost in an instant.

"Captain!" Hiromi passed the ball to the captain who was blocked too. "Nishiki!" It kept on going; whenever someone was passed the ball, at least two of the defenders would be there to block them.

'So that's their plan.' Hiromi concluded as she watched Ichijuu pass the ball to Hamano who got blocked by Hayami and Ookami. Hiromi looked around. Her blockers had left her open to deal with the others. Yamada and Minowari, who were far from where she was standing, were currently busy blocking the captain and Victor. So that only left Nishiki, Ichijuu and herself open.

Hiromi's eyes averted to the where the boundaries were and yelled out to Hamano, "Hamano-senpai! Over here!" She waved her hand to grab his attention as she ran to the boundaries. Hamano hesitated to kick the ball.

Making up his mind, Hamano shouted out, "Hiromi!" He passed the ball to the brunette with a long kick.

"Nishiki-senpai! Get ready!" Hiromi yelled as the ball neared her. Nishiki gave a goofy grin.

"Get ready for what?" He asked jokingly as he ran passed the distracted defenders and towards the goal. He knew where this was going. He had seen that move countless of times.

Meanwhile, the ball continued to roll just right in front of Hiromi. Just when it was about to hit the ground and bounce out of the boundaries, Hiromi headed in for a slide. The ball barely touched the ground as the brunette caught it with the tip of her shoe, swung herself around and kicked the ball towards Nishiki's direction.

"Nishiki-senpai!" The ball swiveled passed the defenders and to Nishiki who gave her a thumbs up.

"Alright!" Nishiki yelled exuberantly, "Let's see what you've got Kuroyama!"

Nishiki squat down with his arms spread out at both his sides. A bright light promptly shone from behind him, making his figure look like a shadow from the front. In a flash, a golden dragon appeared and circled around him before twisting itself into a spiral behind the dark haired boy.

"Dragon Night!"

The spiraling dragon behind him turned into a bright full moon and a night sky. As Nishiki kicked the ball; a trail of burning flames followed after it and not a moment too soon, the golden dragon reappeared and made loops around the ball.

The ball zoomed passed Kuroyama, missing him by  the ear as it earned the point for the offense team. The offense team roared with victory... mostly Nishiki though.

"Sorry I couldn't catch it. It was too fast for me." Kuroyama apologized to his fellow defenders in shame.

"Don't sweat it." Hayami reassured, pushing up his glasses. He placed his hand on Kuroyama's shoulder. "We didn't expect you to catch Nishiki-san's shoot-"

"But I still think that was overdoing it." Minowari cut in, glancing over to an over excited Nishiki bear hugging Ichijuu and Hamano.

"Yo Milo (pronounced MY-lo) head, don't interrupt." Hayami said, pursing his lips at him.

"I told you Hayami, stop calling me that!"

"But in the meantime, there's always room for improvement. We've still got a week to practices before the tournament." Yamada said, blankly ignoring his juniors' bickering. Kuroyama nodded in agreement, a sad smile on his face.

Hiromi who stood afar looked behind her and smirked.

"Nishiki-san... I think you can let go of us now." Hamano was choking under Nishiki's hug. His face turning from blue to purple and so was Ichijuu's who was desperately gasping for air. Hiromi couldn't help but snicker as she casually walked over to the trio, "It's just a shoot. You don't have to get so worked up about it."

Nishiki laughed wholeheartedly, "I know, but I haven't used my hissatsu for ages! Yo Hiromi! Nice pass there!"

Hiromi nodded her head with little acknowledgment, "You know, your pass reminds me of someone. We had a match with their team just yesterday before school started."

Before Hiromi could ask who, the captain's voice came booming from across the field.

"Everyone, get back to your positions! NOW HAYAMI!"

Hiromi amused herself by watching Hayami who dance around, easily dodging the fearful hits and kicks the captain was sending him.

"Nice pass there Hiromi." Victor praised, appearing from her side. Hiromi sent him a smile, "Thanks Vic." Hiromi purposely ignored the pink colouring his face while he muttered out rather loudly.

"Don't call me that."

Hiromi mouth curved into a sly grin. She loved finding victims to make fun of, "Why? Is there a special person who can call you that, eh Vicky?" She asked, teasing him by poking his shoulder. Victor had his face in a shade of deep red as replied instantly, "No!"

"Then I don't see a problem."

"...But don't call me Vicky."

"Whatever you want." Hiromi told him off as she stormed off back to her position when the captain pointed and boomed at her to stop flirting. She wanted to shoot back harsh swear words but bit back her tongue. He was their captain AND her senior, meaning you'd have to show them respect. But just because he WAS that, Hiromi wasn't going to let him have his way with her. Oh hell no, she wasn't.

Once she had stepped back into her position, the loud, high pitched sound of the whistle blew.

* * *

"She is also quite flexible as she is seen to be able to stretch her legs far enough to reach the ball. Not to mention, she has impeccable timing-"

Hiromi crumpled the form into a ball and angrily tossed it in the empty bin across her bed. Huffing, Hiromi fell back, sprawled on her bed sheets as she stared at the ceiling with her brows knitted.

That form had way too much information about her. It felt like having a stalker stalk you 24/7.

Hiromi knew it was a bad idea to read that form, but she so badly wanted to know who wrote it. She doubt it was the coach, since he looked just at shocked as her, or was he just faking it?

Hiromi sat up thoughtfully as she grabbed a pillow and rest her chin on the soft cushion.

'It doesn't seem like Ryoji wrote it either. His writing is much more messier.' Hiromi thought as her anger came bubbling back when she stared at the bin. Out of rage, Hiromi threw her pillow and it crashed into an empty bin, knocking it over to the door.

"If only I knew that person." Hiromi grumbled guiltily to herself before grabbing another pillow and screaming her head off into it.

"Hiromi? Are you still awake?"

Hiromi jumped at the voice. She glanced over to her door with a frightened look as she heard thumping footsteps climbing the staircase. Her dad was coming.

"Shit." Hiromi cursed softly as she immediately tucked herself into bed. While in a fit of panic, Hiromi reached out under her pillow and pulled out a small remote controller. She pointed it to the main light above her bed and with a push of a button, the light automatically turned off, right before the door opened with a click.

"Hiromi?"

Hiromi sank deeper into her sheets as she felt her dad walk into the room. She had her head facing the opposite direction and was trembling under the sheets. She felt her dad's presence near her bed and shut her eyes closed to make it look like she was asleep.

When all of a sudden, the lights switched back on and caused her eyelids to fly open. And that wasn't the only thing that flew. Hiromi felt her entire body was flung off the bed and onto the carpet covered floor.

"OW! That hurt!" Hiromi lashed out angrily at the person sitting on her bed, laughing his head off. That person happened to be a pink-haired man who had his hair tied into pigtails by the name of Kirino Ranmaru.

"I knew you weren't asleep yet." Ranmaru said, tears in his eyes as he watched his daughter climb back on the bed, murmuring, "I thought you only do this when I sleep in."

"I couldn't resist myself." Earning the pink haired man himself another laugh. Hiromi didn't find it funny one bit as she grumbled under her breath, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. What's wrong sweetie?" He ruffled her brown hair affectionately as Hiromi dug her face deeper into the pillow she had grabbed.

"Nothing."

"Don't you 'nothing' me now young lady. Something's up." Ranmaru walked over to where the thrown pillow was and picked it up, "Else this wouldn't be on the floor." Hiromi turned her head away, huffing. Ranmaru sighed as she sat next to her on her bed again.

"Hiromi. What's wrong? You can tell me." But to no avail did his daughter give him an answer or reply back. Ranmaru desperately wanted to help his daughter with whatever problem she was facing.

However, Hiromi had grown to be secretive and distance from him and Takuto and Ranmaru couldn't figure out why; he asked her numerous of times but it seemed that girl had acquired a new personality; she had grown to be as stubborn as a rock.

"Go to sleep sweetie. You've got school tomorrow." Ranmaru told her, defeated as he reached out to the remote controller laying on the bed. With a press of the button, the room was engulfed in darkness just like it was earlier. The only source of light coming from the opened door.

Ranmaru kissed his daughter's head and made his way to the opened door before casting her one long look.

He heard Hiromi murmur a goodnight, then quietly and sadly, he walked himself out of the room.

"Goodnight Hiromi."

* * *

 

**OMG! This is my first time I included one of the InaGo characters! And there you have it folks! Kirino Ranmaru, Hiromi's adopted father!**

**And a fun fact about Hayami. His mother is a Chinese; she travels around the world to learn about the different cultures and knows how to speak over 20 languages. And the nickname Hayami gave Minowari was the nickname his mother was given because of the similar hair colour.**

 


	5. Tenton Academy

"Come on, you expect me to believe you?"

"You said you'd help me on this and of course, I'm speaking the truth!"

"Yeah, but THIS? This doesn't make any sense-"

"Fuck you, I'm-"

"What are you two doing here?" Sora asked, appearing from behind Victor and startling him and Hiromi as they tried to come up with an excuse to fool her. 

Hiromi and Victor found it almost difficult to have an actual discussion without Sora or Kuroyama unintentionally listening or finding them discussing in secret. Going home wasn't an option either. Sora would either be with them or it was too late to discuss, or their schedules wouldn't let them have their secret discussion.

Hiromi only hoped she and Victor could arrange a time for them to discuss, but for now, she was dreading the moment when Sora or Kuroyama would show up.

* * *

Hiromi finally came to a stop as she rested her hands on her knees. Panting heavily as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead. The captain had decided to make them run extra laps around the field and most of them had collapsed on the ground by their 5th lap.

"Get up and keep going." The captain surpassed her, scowling. He was shortly followed by Namayaki and later Akashi, who later tripped and met the ground face first. Hiromi glowered and forced herself to pick up enough speed to catch up to the navy haired boy that passed her.

"You alright?" Victor asked once she caught up to him, huffing.

"Just great." Hiromi groused sarcastically, "You?"

"Exhausted." He breathed as he slowly came to stop. Hiromi decided to join him, however, ended up crashing into somebody in front of her.

"Hey! What gives?"

Namayaki, who she had slammed into and fell, glanced at her, panting, before pointing behind her. Hiromi turned around puzzled to find the captain standing alongside the coach and talking.

Namayaki beckoned them to follow him once Victor had pulled the brunette back onto her feet again. He was out of breath to speak.

The duo behind the albino haired goalkeeper assumed they were going to wait and watch Tenton Academy's grand arrival, but didn't say a word.

Hiromi ignored the serious conversation between the captain and the coach as she realized something odd.

"Where's the others?" Sora inquired loudly with the same thoughts. Hiromi and Victor began searching the field before locking her eyes onto something in the distance.

"You've got to be kidding me."

There, far away from the sidelines, Hiromi could just make out an unconscious Minowari with Ichijuu holding his head. Surrounding them were the missing team members they were looking for.

"Let's go help him." Victor said to Hiromi who nodded and ran to the bench instead, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I'm just gonna get something real quick. Go on without me!" Making sure he didn't turn around, Hiromi held to scheming smile as she reached the bluenette, "Hey Sora, can I have one of those water bottles?"

 

"Should I kick him?" Hayami asked Nishiki with a broad grin.

"Don't kick him." Hamano hastily defended, "Uh... look! Hiromi's here!"

Right as he was, Hiromi came striding towards the crowd gathered around the sleeping beauty.

"How's he so far?" She asked, squatting down to examine his face. It was beet red, and still sweating. Hiromi could hear soft breathing, meaning that he wasn't technically sleeping.

"Still unconscious. You got a plan on how to wake him up?" Ookami asked, adverting his gaze to the brunette. Hiromi smirked and waved the bottle.

"Definitely."

Hayami's grin came back in an instant, "I like that plan. Let 'er rip Hiromi!"

Everyone but Ichijuu backed off as Hiromi pointed the tip of the bottle at Minowari's face. Before she could squeeze the water at his red face, a hand grabbed her wrist and forced it down. Shocked, Hiromi was met face to face with the captain and fell frozen on the spot. Hiromi tensed up when she noticed how close his face was.

Before she knew it, the bottle was snatched away from her hands of the captain. Hiromi watched him kneel down beside Minowari. He leaned towards genius' ear and whispered something the others couldn't hear.

Minowari sudden sat up, grasping at his hair, "NOOOO! I COULDN'T HAVE FAILED! I STUDIED EXTREMELY HARD FOR THIS! Oh?"

Minowari stared at the faces of his teammates (excluding the captain) puzzled, all shocked and backed far away from him, "What happened?"

"Get up." The captain ordered, "They're about to arrive soon." He threw the bottle back at Hiromi who caught it, turned his heel and walked away, leaving everyone with hanging mouths. Ichijuu helped Minowari to stand as the others proceeded to follow the captain to the sidelines. Hiromi was the last to leave the spot, glaring daggers at the captain behind his back.

Once everyone had gathered next to sidelines, they turned their heads to the sounds of rumbling footsteps. Standing there, in front of the Raimon team was Tenton Academy. All sweaty but looked like they had the time of their life. It was obvious by the broad grins they had plastered on their faces. All of a sudden, Hiromi's eyes widened and her mouth hung open.

"No fucking way." She whispered in shock as the team of sweaty teammates, led by their captain, made their way over to greet the Raimon team.

"How have you been Omiwari?" Natsukata greeted with a smile as he and the Raimon captain shook hands.

"Well, if you must know." He said his expression never changing from a stoic face, "We got new members."

Natsukata beamed, "That's great news! I see you took my advice didn't you?" Natsukata gave Omiwari a hard pat on the back, making the Raimon captain arch forward, "Since we're all here, we can start the match now. I like to see how your new members play against us."

At the same time, the other Raimon teammates moved aside, revealing the trio who had been standing behind all of them the entire time. Natsukata's grin lost it's glow as his eyes widened in a mixture of both fear and shock, the Raimon captain noted.

"Is anything wrong?" Omiwari asked, without a hint of suspicion in his voice. He noticed that his had his eyes fixated on Hiromi who had done the same with hers, scowling as she did.

Natsukata immediately stammered, "N-No! N-Nothing's wrong. Let's start the game shall we?" He suggested loudly with a fake grin as the coach nodded in agreement and the two teams cheered.

Among the cheering, Omiwari decided not to question the Tenton captain as he commanded his teammates into their respective positions. 

"IT IS I! GETAKU LARINO AND I WILL BE THE COMMENTATOR FOR THIS MATCH!" He announced proudly, statling the managers as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did you come from?" Miwana quickly inquired.

"A COMMENTATOR NEVER REVEALS HIS SECRETS! NOW IF WE WILL! LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

The whistle blew and the match began with Raimon's kickoff.

"AND THE MATCH BEGINS WITH RAIMON'S KICKOFF! MATSUKAZE-"

"Call me Victor!"

"OF COURSE! VICTOR IS COMING IN STRONG- BUT WAIT! ROCOMOTO STEALS THE BALL!"

Rocomoto slid in and stole it from Victor's grasp, catching him by surprise.

"Natsukata-san!" Rocomoto passed the ball to the Tenton captain who gave him a thumbs up and advanced forward with Hinata and Getsuka by his side.

"Alright, let's score this point!" The Tenton captain yelled to his teammates who nodded and ran into their positions for their hissatsu technique, White Eagle. Before they could even connect their white lines, someone interjected, sliding pass the Tenton captain as they stole the ball away.

"AND MINOWARI INTERJECTS IN BEFORE WHITE EAGLE CAN HAPPEN!"

"Hamano!" Minowari shouted, instantly kicking the stole ball to the dark haired boy.

Hamano caught the ball. Once he turned around, he was blocked by the defenders Nabeshima and Amateru Jiru, an orange haired defender.

"Hiromi!" Hamano shouted, passing the ball to Hiromi who dashed passed them.

"Block her!" The goalkeeper, Kurou, shouted to the other two defenders who nodded in affirmation. They bolted straight at Hiromi, who halted just in time before she could crash into them. Just as she was about to turn around, Nabeshima and Amateru were already there blocking her with similar sly grins. Then the four defenders began to run around her in a circle, gradually getting faster and faster until they became a blur.

"Hiromi!" Victor yelled. He watched as the blur began forming a large tornado around the brunette, enclosing her in it.

Hiromi squinted her eyes as she held her arms over them. The winds became stronger as Hiromi dug her shoes in ground to avoid being blown away. In a blink of an eye, Hiromi caught sight of the ball flying at lightning speed around her, she almost missed it because it blended in with the tornado as a blur. Without warning, Hiromi lost her balance and began spinning along with the ball.

"Whirlwind Tornado!" The tornado immediately spat Hiromi out of the opening and the winds died down. Hiromi struck the ground with a hard fall and winced in pain as the ball fell perfectly on the spot she had just been standing on. Amateru gave a wicked grin as he watched the brunette try to push herself up. Amatetu passed the ball to Nabeshima, who looked at him confused.

"You kick. I was getting tired of running in circles." He said as he rested him head with his hands behind it. Nabeshima "hmpf" and cast his fellow defender a smirk.

"You're just a lazy ass..." His eyes fell onto Hiromi who struggled to get up. The Raimon captain and Victor rushed to her aid, "And a perv."

"Just kick the damn ball already." Amatetu scowled, walking back to his position. Nabeshima cast a sidelong glance at the defender before yelling out to one of the midfielders, Hinata.

"AND NABESHIMA PASSES THE BALL TO HINATA WITH A LONG KICK! HINATA ADVANCES THROUGH THE FIELD WITH NATSUKATA AND GETSUKA!"

The Raimon captain caught sight of the trio dashing past them from a distance. They were going to try to perform White Eagle again, he concluded.

"Can you stand?" The captain asked Hiromi in a demanding voice which caused her to look at her feet unsure. He watched the brunette tapped her foot twice or thrice. 

"I'm fine," Hiromi concluded, slipping out of the captain and Victor's arms that steadied her.

"Then get ready to fight back. I have a plan. Inform the others." Victor and Hiromi nodded as they sped off in different directions to pass the message.

"Hiromi? What's up?" Nishiki asked once he noticed her running towards him. Before Hiromi could speak, she stumbled on her feet. Luckily, Nishiki caught her before she could fall face first to the ground, "Woah there. Are you alright? You had it pretty rough with Whirlwind Tornado."

"I'm fine." Hiromi gritted her teeth, "The captain has a plan. I bet he'll give out the commands once the ball comes to us." She looked behind her back, indirectly indicating that the captain was already way ahead of the plan.

Nishiki gave Hiromi a broad smile, "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"Ookami!" The captain shouted to his fellow teammate and team strategist. Fortunately, the Raimon captain had gotten to the defenders before their opponents could perform their hissastu technique. Ookami heard his shout and swiftly tricked his blocker into running the other direction and turning his heel almost immediately.

"What is it?" Ookami asked. He was quite shocked to see the captain all the way back at the penalty area.

"Let them through."

Ookami's face melted into a fit of rage and shock, "WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN LET THEM THROUGH! IT'S OUR JOB TO DEFEND THE-"

"Trust me." The captain interjected severely. Ookami shut up, intending to hear out what the captain had to say, "I have a plan. But it'll only work if you let Kuroyama have the ball."

Ookami exhaled. He seemed unsure about this idea, "You sure about that Omiwari? I'm not doubting the little guy or anything, but-"

"There's not enough time to argue about this Ookami!" The captain growled which forced the blue haired boy to take a step back. From the corner of the captain's eye, he could already see the Tenton captain and his teammates about to execute their hissatsu technique, "I know you'll find out what this plan is later, but now call off the others to make way. Do you understand!?"

Ookami stood there, staring at the captain who had the word serious written all over his face. Ookami nodded and made his way to his fellow defenders. The blue haired strategist glanced back with a worried expression as he saw the captain run back to his position.

"White Eagle!"

Ookami promptly turned his head and shouted across the field, "Guys! Let them through! Captain's orders!"

Fortunately, they heard him and glanced at one another uneasy before compiling and moving out of the way for White Eagle to pass through.

"What!?" The Tenton captain and Kuroyama shouted simultaneously. The Tenton captain watched in disbelief as the ball flew towards an equally surprised goalkeeper.

Right away, Kuroyama shakingly held out his hands for the oncoming ball. He was panic-stricken.

'Why would they leave the field open!?' Kuroyama thought almost angrily, but since had been petrified, it was impossible for him to feel any anger at that moment. All he could think was-

'What if I can't catch it?' He thought, terrified, "No. I'm the goalkeeper now! I can catch it!'

"You can do it Kuroyama!" Namayaki encouraged, rising from his seat. Akashi scoffed and turned away unimpressed.

Kuroyama thrust his hands forward with full confidence. In a blink of an eye, a golden ball of energy formed at his palms, crackling with static electricity. He pulled back his hands to his side and enclosed the ball of energy with his palms. Bright rays shot out from the little openings between his fingers as the ball got larger. Kuroyama propelled the ball of energy in front of him with one big thrust-

"Static Charge!"

And it exploded with a silent bang into large bolts of bright, yellow electricity that crackled ominously. White Eagle collided with the hissatsu technique not a second too soon. Kuroyama gritted his teeth as he felt the force of Tenton Academy's White Eagle push him back.

'I can't let them have it.' Kuroyama thought, 'I'm not going to let them have the goal!' Kuroyama fought back as he slowly stretched his bent arms forward with little strength that gradually got stronger. Suddenly, the illusion of the white eagle shattered into particles and dispersed. The ball gradually slowed down as it fell to the ground and rolled away when Static Charge died down. Kuroyama instantly threw himself towards the ball, clutching it tightly as if his life depended on it.

"AND KUROYAMA STOPS TENTON ACADEMY'S WHITE EAGLE WITH HIS HISSATSU TECHNIQUE, STATIC CHARGE!" The commentator screamed with surprise into his microphone. The managers and Naomi beamed joyously, jumping from their seats as the coach held a proud smile.

"Alright, Kuroyama!" Namayaki cheered as he did a fist pump in the air.

'So that was your plan.' Ookami realized. "Great job Kuroyama!" He praised the silver-blue haired boy who was too busy staring at the ball with a face of an achieved goal. 

"BUT WITH A FEW MINUTES LEFT, WILL RAIMON MAKE THEIR GOAL?"

"Kuroyama! Pass the ball! We're going to finish this fast!" The captain ordered, snapping the said boy out of his happiness. Kuroyama shook his head. The match wasn't over yet.

"Hiromi!" Kuroyama alarmed the brunette as he saw her make a run for it, holding out a thumbs up, indicating she was ready to catch the ball. Without a second thought, Kuroyama threw the ball and gave it a hard kick over to her direction.

The Tenton captain immediately realized the situation and commanded his teammates, "Go after her! She's going to make a pass!"

Rocomoto and a forward with snow white hair, Shishiro, nodded at his command and sped off towards Hiromi at both her sides. 

'I can't deal with them now!' Hiromi thought, annoyed as she made an 180-degree turn at the flying ball. She had predicted where the ball would fall.

"Nishiki-senpai!" Hiromi yelled, jumping and kicking the ball to him in mid-air, just as Rocomoto and Shishiro arrived.

"Ichijuu!" Nishiki shouted over to the mute boy far ahead of him after receiving the ball.

Ichijuu caught it and advanced forward before seeing the two defenders, Nabeshima and Amateru blocking his way. He saw the captain bounding towards Tenton's goal with a clear opening through the middle. He signed the word "captain" and kicked the ball to him.

The Raimon captain saw this, more like he knew that the pass was going to happen as he dribbled the ball. It was far too late for the defenders to run and block him. He was one on one with the goalkeeper Kurou.

"So it's you and me again, huh?" Kurou said with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles, "Let's see what you've got! TEN TON WEIGHT!"

The enormous ton weight appeared from behind Kurou who grinned proudly before it melted into confusion. The Raimon captain made no movement to stop and in a blink of an eye, the said captain made a pass to the corner of the field.

"BUT WHAT'S THIS!? OMIWARI HAS MADE A KICK TO THE CORNER!"

The Tenton goalkeeper was caught by surprise as he watched the ball swiveled towards the corner, likely to result in an out he thought as he gaped like a fish. But what really made him freeze on the spot was when he felt his eyes were deceiving him.

"AND VICTOR JUMPS IN FROM NOWHERE AT THE CORNER! AMAZING! IT WAS A PASS FROM THE CAPTAIN INSTEAD!"

In a nick of time, Victor had reached the ball before it could continue in an out and immediately jumped in to kick it away. He raised his leg behind him, his foot was blazing with bright orange flames as it came in contact with the ball, lighting it up on fire.

"Blazing Fire!"

The ball was incredibly strong as it impacted with the ton weight from its side. The fire igniting brightly enough for the goalkeeper to almost become blind since he kept staring at it with worry. To his relief, the ball stop spinning and bounced away from the goal. He didn't notice the ton weight slowly flickering like it was fading from being weakened as he suddenly realized that the ball bounced off as he immediately made an effort to duck and catch it. Sadly, he ducked in too quickly, making the distance too short to reach the ball. The ball was abruptly stopped as the goalkeeper looked up and saw the Raimon captain with a stoic expression before smirking.

"Dagger Ark!"

The Raimon captain's Dagger Ark pierced through the weakened ton weight, shattering it and scoring a goal for the team.

"AND IT'S IN! IT'S IN!" The commentator cheered as the whistle blew, signaling the end of the first half.

The Raimon captain turned away from the surprised and disappointed face of the Tenton goalkeeper before being lifted off the ground and nearly squished to death by Nishiki 

"HAHA! THAT WAS AMAZING!" 

"Nishiki, let go of me!" The captain choked angrily through the big and tight bear hug given Nishiki was giving him.

"Come on captain, lighten up a bit. He's just giving you a hug." Hiromi said, folding her arms once she reached the pair with the other teammates beginning to surround them.

"Shut it you!" The captain snapped, resulting the brunette's smirk to widen, "Nishiki, put me down this instant!" Nishiki ignored him and tightened his grip on the poor captain as the entire team burst out laughing. The managers and the adults from the sidelines even giggled along.

The Tenton captain eyed the Raimon team celebrating their small victory from the sidelines, across from where the Raimon team was. 

"It too early for them to celebrate."

The dark-haired captain turned his attention towards Amateru, the orange haired defender who had his arms folded and brows knitted. He was obviously unhappy for their lost.

"Well, it was pretty close." Rocomoto reluctantly said, catching a glimpse of Amateru's icy glare and turned away, sweating.

"I guess it was my fault." Kurou blamed himself, "I didn't anticipate that their plan was to weaken the goal. I was too confident since our last match with them."

"Don't blame yourself Kurou." The Tenton captain reassured with his hand on the goalkeeper's shoulder, "I agree with Amateru, it's too early for them to celebrate and we have the second half to get back at them. We just have to come up with a plan, even better than theirs and we'll score back the point we lost!" 

"Spoken like a true captain, Natsukata." A tall man dressed in a white suit strode towards their bench. He wore sunglasses that covered his eyes and had grey hair tied in a ponytail, "But we're going to have to do it the hard way."

"Coach!" The ones who sat down immediately stood up.

"Coach Kurosawa." The Tenton captain greeted his coach who stopped him with a hand.

"Don't bother with commenting on how late I am." He said in an expressionless voice, "The managers had some trouble and I had to force them to stay back."

He pulled his sunglasses away, revealing his electric blue eyes. He wiped his sunglasses clean from dust with a napkin as he continued to speak, "If you want a plan, then I suggest you start with her." He turned his attention towards the Raimon team on the field.

"Her?" Natsukata whispered unsure once his eyes trailed onto the brunette.

"Is there a problem?"

"N-No! But-"

"You want to score back a point don't you?" Kurosawa asked irritatedly. The Tenton captain stiffened, "You know how it works Natsukata. We can't defy his orders. Understood?"

Not a word came out of the Tenton captain as he gave a small nod and returned to his earlier position along with the coach who planned on telling them the plan they were going to use before the whistle blew.

"AND THE SECOND HALF BEGINS WITH TENTON ACADEMY'S KICKOFF!"

The forward, Mura Akiya, dribbled the ball straight for the goal before being blocked off by Hamano. "Rocomoto!" He yelled, passing the ball over to the cheerful boy who was ahead of him. Rocomoto gave a thumbs up as he dashed past the Raimon captain and Ookami who tried to block him off.

_"So all we gotta do is eliminate her right? So she can't fight back right?" Haruta Konji asked as he received a confirmed nod from the coach._

_"Then what about the others?" Amateru grunted impatiently as the coach simply looked at him._

_"Merely block them." The coach replied nonchalantly. His attention fell on the only one that avoided looking at him; the dark-haired captain was looking down at his feet rather guiltily and unsure._

_"Natsukata. You'll be the doing the job."_

_The said captain's eyes widened in shock. His head shot up and his mouth opened to say something, however, it was silenced by the harsh voice and hard look given by his coach._

_"You will not defy my orders do you understand me Natsukata?" Everyone had their eyes locked onto the pair dumbfounded, some even with mouths hanging. They've seen the coach angry before, but they've never seen him snap at their beloved and respected captain. The Tenton captain muttered quietly and stepped back, resuming to looking back at his feet with a new wave of guilt forming inside him. The coach pulled back and adjusted his tie, "Good. Do whatever it takes to get her off the field."_

That memory stung the Tenton captain's heart. Of course he wanted to win. Of course he wanted to score back a point they lost to call it even, but going so far as to using that on her? He didn't want to risk hurting her, but he couldn't defy the coach's orders either. The coach was counting on him. His entire team was. 

The Tenton captain raised his head. He didn't see his target but he wasn't sure if he could do this.

"Natsukata!" The Tenton captain who was lost in his own thoughts for a while couldn't react in time as the ball flew past him. Luckily, a fellow teammate of his caught up to him from the opposite side and received the ball instead.

"What's wrong with you?" Hinata demanded as he kept dribbling forward with the ball. Hinata saw his captain's face. His face was pale as if he saw a ghost and wanted it to end. Hinata immediately knew what was up and stopped in his tracks.

"I hope this isn't about what happened with the coach," Hinata said. It caused the Tenton captain to slowly come to a stop a few feet away, "You know we can't defy his orders." Hinata added hesitantly when he got no reply from the captain.

"Pass me the ball Hinata. I want to end this quickly." Even though it was a command, the Tenton captain's voice sounded miserable. It made the midfielder's heart sink as he bit his lip before reluctantly passing the ball to the captain.

Without another word, the Tenton captain immediately sprinted off in the opposite direction of where his team's goal was.

"WHAT'S THIS!? NATSUKATA IS HEADING STRAIGHT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!"

Everyone in the Raimon team had the same exact thought they questioned in their minds.

'WHAT!?'

'He can't be serious!' The Raimon captain thought, assuming the Tenton captain was going to shoot his own goal. No. It seemed too unlikely for him to do that, but he had to think of something quick. Even if he was going in for the shot, he wouldn't let the Tenton captain earn them the point so easily.

"Midfielders! Get out and block him!" The Raimon captain shouted at the top of his lungs. He was miles away where the defenders held off his fellow teammates.

Hiromi heard his order and immediately side-stepped to fool her defender. He mimicked her and left the opposite side open for Hiromi to jump out of his grasp and make a run for it. Making use of the short distance from the incoming Tenton captain, Hiromi headed into a slide. She was going to steal the ball away.

The last thing she knew was the least thing she expected from him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hiromi could see the hard look he gave her and it struck her worried. The Tenton captain stopped short and raised a fist into the air. Strong winds began swirling around his arm and a second later, little pieces of metal began forming out of nowhere and glued to his arm by the strong winds. It was like a metal attracting wind magnet was injected in his arm. The metal began piling up on each other until up from his elbow was covered with metal in the form of an iron gauntlet. 

The Tenton captain pulled back his fist, attempting to smash it to the ground beneath him.

"Iron Gauntlet!"

Bringing it down to meet the grassy ground and the massive impact caused jagged rocks to shoot up in a line towards his brown haired victim. Hiromi didn't have the time to stop her slide as the rocks shot up from beneath her. It jabbed her back forcefully and sent her flying towards the goal and smashed into the goalpost.

Hiromi's vision turned blurry the instant she fell forward. She could hear the cries of her name being called by her teammates and the commentator shouting over the microphone. 

"IRON GAUNTLET WAS AIMED AT HIROMI! A FOUL MADE BY NATSUKATA RENJI OF TENTON ACADEMY!"

"Natsukata..." Hiromi muttered softly as consciousness took over her completely.

* * *

"A foul! A filthy, devious, and unsportsmanlike foul!" The Raimon coach screamed at Kurosawa whose face stayed stoic through the entire outburst. The match had been called off so that the managers could tend to Hiromi's injuries. Naomi and Omiwari stood behind Shingestu for support and out of anger. They both sent equal severe glares at the Tenton coach in hopes of breaking him.

"But to call off the match when just one of your players is injured. How disgraceful." Kurosawa shook his head disappointingly and mockingly. It drove Shingestu's anger to maximum rage, "You could have been smart and sportsmanly by calling one of your benched players to take the girl's place."

"Don't you lecture me about being unsportsmanlike when you ordered your captain to purposely aim and injure my player!" Shingestu whipped his head angrily at the Tenton captain, who looked down at his feet in shame, "And to think you had let go of your harsh and unpractical ways of winning. I thought wrong!"

The Tenton coach said nothing as he pushed his sunglasses up his nose before speaking nonchalantly again, "Then you have yourself to blame Shingestu. For all the times you used to believe that I had some good in me." The said coach strode forward until his back was faced towards Shingestu's.

"After all, that's what Tenton Academy is so great for. Surprises."

He left the crowd silently with a wicked grin. Tension filled the silent atmosphere. It was almost too much for the Tenton Academy team to handle with all the mixed feelings they were experiencing at the moment.

"Get out of my sight and never come back." The Raimon coach spoke darkly to their opposing team. He pointed his finger at the school's entrance as he sent them a dark and hard look, "You are never welcome here again."

Natsukata stared at him and hesitantly bowed in respect, not a word left his mouth until he announced to his team.

"Team! Forward march!" Instead of marching like they always never did, one by one, the team slowly dispersed into a jog with the Tenton captain stepping aside for his team to pass, counting the number of teammates that were present. 

After the last person he counted passed him, Natsukata began to trail after the rest of the team ahead of him. As he jogged past the Raimon captain, he couldn't help but lock his guilty eyes with his severe ones that glared back.

Natsukata whipped his head away as caught up with his team, slowly disappearing from the trio's sight.

"I can't believe them!" Naomi cried outraged. She threw her clipboard on the floor furiously, "The nerve of that coach of theirs. Ordering their captain to go in for the kill! What kind of 'sportsmanly' coach does that!?" Naomi emphasized sportsmanly with two fingers as her complaints turned into infuriated nagging to no one in particular.

Omiwari agreed with her and understood that she had every right to be angry. But there was something that was bugging his mind at the moment. Did the coach and Naomi-san have a relationship with Kurosawa? The coach mentioned about believing that Kurosawa had some good in him. Were they good friends back when they were younger? Did Naomi-san know Kurosawa and the coach since their young age?

Omiwari became irritated, at the same time, confused with his questions and excused himself to go back to the meeting room. Hopefully, he would be able to see Hiromi if she was already treated.

* * *

"Woah Omiwari! Watch where you're going." Omiwari snapped back to reality as soon as he felt himself being pushed back. He raised his head from looking at the ground and was met face to face with the pink haired defender, "You could have knocked me over." Yamada added jokingly. Omiwari stared at him unamused.

"Okay. At least, I tried to be Hayami."

At the mention of Hayami, surprisingly, Hamano was standing beside Yamada looking at him. The Raimon captain found it puzzling. Hamano, most of the time, was with Hayami. Either by his side or just tagging along in group activities which involved Hayami around. So why was he here without the redhead boy?

Hamano seemed to read his thoughts as he quickly and calmly explained, "Hayami and Nishiki-san's are devising another plan for the next person who's going to walk through the doors." He warned as Omiwari nodded back, silently thanking the boy for his generosity to avoid his (Hamano) best friend's foul plan, "I was just waiting outside for his plan to come to an end until Yamada-san joined me."

"I'm waiting for Nishiki. Yamada explained once Omiwari whipped his head at him.

"Where are the others then?"

"Stuck in the room," Yamada replied, shifting his eyes to the inconspicuous door.

Then that would mean the trick could happen on both sides of the door, Omiwari thought.

'Clever trick Nishiki.' Omiwari thought. For a bunch of his teammates being trapped indoors, it was suspiciously quiet considering how loud both Hayami and Nishiki were combined. Omiwari would have expected some argument to break loose among his teammates but it was as silent as a grave.

"We're the only two people that got out while they were setting up their devil plan, as they call it." He added hastily, not wanting to confuse his teammates that the name was made up by the dynamic duo (yes they call themselves that) and not him.

Omiwari believed him as he made his way to the doors where they would automatically open for him, revealing whatever trick those cunning foxes had in mind.

"C-Captain, are you sure that's a good idea?" Hamano asked, starting to panic a little. The captain and the dynamic duo's tricks weren't on such great terms.

Omiwari didn't reply as he faced in front of the doors a few feet away from it. Omiwari lifted his foot and stretched it towards the door, a few centimeters away from touching the surface. The automatic doors slid open and his eyes followed a falling bucket of water hitting the floor not a second too soon.

"Smart move captain." Omiwari's eyes drew away from the fallen bucket and spilled water to everyone in the room and then to Hayami. He was obviously not happy. He probably realized that their sensors detected motion.

Omiwari felt a sudden urge to rub it in his face with a taunting smile, however, hid it behind his stoic face and arched frown.

"I thought we really had you for a second there Omiwari." Nishiki said with a sheepish smile as he grabbed his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. The duffel bag was given to every member of the soccer club, "I'll see you next Monday." He stepped out of the door with a begrudging Hayami who followed after him. They were followed by the trapped teammates who each bid the captain goodbye or see you later.

"Where are they?" Omiwari asked, stopping the last person to from exiting. Ichijuu instantly understood what he meant and pointed to a the medical room. 

Omiwari thanked the mute boy and walked towards the door. Before he could even knock on the surface, the doors were forced open and revealed an infuriated redhead with bared teeth.

"What!?" Miwana snarled at the purple haired boy threateningly. Omiwari could tell she was in a bad mood but proceeded to approach calmly and cautiously. He's dealt with a furious redhead before.

"I came to see Hiromi," Omiwari answered nonchalantly.

"Well, she's better now." Miwana snapped and her head disappeared into the room. She came back, only to shove a puzzled Victor and Kuroyama out of the door, "And since she is, you guys can leave, now SCRAM!"

The door slammed shut behind Victor and Kuroyama who, along with Omiwari, cringed at the sound. The trio looked awkwardly at each other, not knowing what to say. Victor and Kuroyama shrugged simultaneously at Omiwari as the trio glanced at the door that separated Hiromi and the managers from them. They could hear the loud and furious rantings explode. Miwana was definitely enraged about the accident.

Guess he was going to have to wait.


	6. Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those who have read what I wrote about quitting archive of our own, I'm so so so sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought I couldn't handle two fanfiction nets so I decided to drop this one.
> 
> I hope you're not too mad at me, from now on, I'll be posting my stories here. So keep in touch! :) And please comment, it would be much appreciated.

 

"Fucking asshole." Hiromi murmured under her breath as she stuffed her jacket into the duffel bag given by the club advisor. The managers had already left the changing room, leaving her alone to let out some of her anger. During her unconscious state, Hiromi was treated by the managers. Luckily, when she woke up, she was told that there weren't any severe injuries, except for a large, nasty bruise on her back. The spot where she had been thrown into the goalpost a few hours ago by a certain Tenton captain.

Hiromi clenched her teeth at the thought of him and slammed the locker door shut before storming out of the room. She half expected the captain to be in the meeting room. But at last, he was there, painfully visible to painful eyes and sitting silently in the back row. All she wanted was to do now was ignore him and avoid a conversation. Hiromi wasn't up for any other bullshit.

Earlier, Hiromi, along with the managers exited the medical room so she could change back into her school uniform. The moment Hiromi stepped foot outside, Kuroyama sprang from his seat and bombarded her with questions with his famous jump-in-the-face attack. Thankfully, Victor pulled the short boy away while Sora pushed her away into the changing rooms.

Hiromi scoffed and turned away from the closed eyed captain. Sora, Victor, and Kuroyama were probably waiting outside for her.

"Are you sure you can walk?" Hiromi stopped short at the automatic doors, sliding open for her to walk out.

"Since when did you start to show concern?" Hiromi retorted with a disgusted look, turning away from the doors as it closed itself shut, "I don't remember you worrying over a bruise. And I didn't injure my leg, in case you were deaf around the managers."

The captain's magenta eyes slowly opened and looked at her with a serious look as he stood up from his seat.

"I wasn't." Hiromi intensified her glare at him, "And as captain, IT IS my job to worry about my teammates."

He hit a vein.

"Then you have a really crappy way of showing it," Hiromi stated, trying to refrain herself from blowing off. Worry about her? As if! Hiromi remembered how he roared at her for hitting Namayaki square in the chest during her entry exam. Like he ever liked her from the beginning enough to worry about her. Not wanting to stay, Hiromi turned and walked out of the room as the doors closed shut behind her.

Finally out of the captains sight, Hiromi suddenly was met with Kuroyama screaming in her face.

"Are you sure you're alright!?"

It was followed by a stern voice from Victor who rushed in between them to stop Hiromi from injuring the short boy with a punch.

"Kuroyama! Apologize!" Sora scolded, kneeling down to Kuroyama's height. The said boy looked down at his feet shamefully with his arms hanging limply. Hiromi lowered her fist but never let her guard down in case he might jump at her again.

"I'm sorry Hiromi. It's just that... Umuki nee-san works in this part time job and she gets hurt really badly. She has bruises and scars and she always comes back with new ones. So I guessed I kinda freaked out when I heard you had a large bruise on your back." Kuroyama explained. Hiromi looked at him, clear from any jump attacks, she sighed while uncurling her fist.

"Fine. I forgive you." Kuroyama's face lit up, "But that doesn't mean I won't punch you the next time I get a chance. IF you jump in my face again."

Kuroyama rapidly nodded in affirmation before flashing Hiromi a sheepish smile to which Hiromi returned back with a warm one.

"Why don't we all go to Rairaiken's?" Sora suggested. She glanced at Kuroyama who gave a grin, already agreeing with the idea, "I've always wanted to try their Super Spicy Supreme."

The trio heard a suppressed snicker from the navy haired boy and shot him incredulous looks, "Are you sure you can eat something that spicy Sora? Remember what happened the last time?" Victor asked. His tone was light and calm, making his questions sound anything but offensive.

"Of course, I can!" Sora retorted, offended, "If Kuroyama and the captain can eat it, why can't I?"

"Because you can't stand spicy food!"

"At least, I can try, can't I!?"

Hiromi and Kuroyama began slowly and cautiously stepping away from the pair. Hiromi wondered if they always bickered like this.

Hiromi tensed up when the blue haired manager threw her hands up in frustration and whipped her head at her.

"What do you think Hiromi? Should I eat spicy food or not?" Sora basically demanded an answer, making Victor slap his own face in annoyance. So much for avoiding involvement and shrugged in reply.

"It's your choice Sora. You make the choices for yourself."

"See!? Even Hiromi agrees!"

"She didn't even- Oh nevermind! Should we go to Rairaiken's or not?" Victor let out an audible sigh, slumping forward in defeat as Sora huffed and retorted back, "Of course we are! Let's go!" Stomping away while mumbling stupid things about the navy haired boy, the trio trailed after her, Hiromi and Kuroyama keeping their distance in case of another outburst.

Just as they were about to walk on the pathway that led to Rairaiken's, Sora stopped short and noticed that someone wasn't following them. Her question caused the other two to stop and look back in confusion.

"Aren't you coming too Hiromi?"

Hiromi blinked, before whipping her head to face the blue haired manager. She waved a hand at them dismissively, "Nah, you guys go ahead. I'm going home to rest after what just happened." The trio looked at each other unsure before deciding to leave the brunette to herself. She probably wasn't in the mood to eat and laugh with them.

"Alright, Hiromi. We understand." Sora said as Hiromi nodded. She watched her friends take their leave, waving and shouting goodbyes, "Safe trip back home!"

Hiromi kept her strained smile and her waving hand at them until they disappeared out of sight before a dark look appeared along with a frown. The brunette whirled her head behind her and hissed at the lamp post.

"What do you want-" A person, a head taller than Hiromi, moved away from his hiding spot guiltily. He had wavy, dark hair that reached his shoulder and bright red eyes that made the brunette turn her entire body around and stared him down in detestation and fury.

"Natsukata?"

* * *

Omiwari sighed in exasperation. He was about to exit the school after making sure the every room was locked in the stadium, but that's when he saw _HER_ standing outside the school entrance, carrying a dark aura that meant trouble.

Almost immediately, silently and swiftly, Omiwari hid behind a sakura tree that was in close proximity to the entrance.

"What do you want Natsukata?" He heard Hiromi hiss. The Raimon captain blinked, 'Natsukata? Why is he still here?'

Another question popped up.

Did she know him? No. She only met him today, unless she had heard about him before. Brushing it as unimportant, Omiwari peeked from behind the tree and got his answer. Standing right there was none other than the famous Tenton captain and for some reason, looking down at his feet in shame and- Omiwari wouldn't believe it. As cheerful and positive as Hayami, the Tenton captain was shivering? He could see Hiromi staring him down and wondered why. He had to be careful if he wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I-I wanted to talk to you." The Tenton captain said, stuttering. Hiromi could tell he was obviously choking his words out with the lump of guilt in his throat.

Scoffing, Hiromi replied, "To what? Apologize? Piss off Natuskata, I don't need it. Now _move_."

Hiromi passed Natsukata who stood in her way to home. Suddenly, Hiromi stumbled back and whipped her head at Natsukata who had pushed her back and looked at her in desperation.

"Please, Hiromi." Natsukata pleaded, grabbing the brunette's wrist to prevent her from running away. Hiromi made an effort to yank her wrist free, but damn he had a strong grip, "Hear me out. Please. I was wrong and you don't deserve this, but, god Hiromi, listen to what I have to say!"

Hiromi's head shot up and glared menacingly at him, eyes shrunk and teeth clenched in fury, "Listen to you!? Get your head straight Natsukata! What would you have ANYTHING to say to me when you're swimming in your achievements and good life!?"

Natsukata was shocked she would say that as his mouth hung open. She hit him hard.

"Natsukata, let... me... go-!"

"NO!" His grip tightened while lifting Hiromi only to touch the ground with her toes. Hiromi forced back a cry and was pretty sure he was going to leave ANOTHER bruise he was responsible for, "Hiromi, I can't keep everything from you! I have too, but I can't. It's for your own safety."

He let his grip go as Hiromi stumbled back. Rubbing her sore wrist, she could see black and blue forming on the skin. They both stood in silence. Hiromi didn't feel it was right to throw all her anger onto him, but she needed answers and if he was involved in whatever bullshit was happening and willing to tell her, she would have to accept.

Spinning her head around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping on their conversation, Hiromi spoke up while choosing her words wisely.

"Tell me first why you and Ryoji broke contact with me."

Natsukata swallowed, "I can't give you a straight answer. I'm sorry, but like I said, it's for your safety."

"...Then what's the point of this conversation?" Nastukata's head shot up, staring at the brunette with her head down, "If all you're going to answer me is 'to keep me safe', then what's the reason you even started this conversation?"

The Tenton captain didn't know how to answer as he averted his eyes to the side, "I'll say it again Hiromi. I can't guarantee you straight answers to your every question but I can tell you one thing." His tone lowered to a whisper as he leaned closely enough for the brunette to hear, "You're not going to like this, but... Raimon was the safest school with a soccer club we could enroll you in."

Hiromi pushed herself away from the Tenton captain. Eyes looking at him in bewilderment and disbelief. Raimon? Raimon was the safest place to enroll her in? Was this all planned out? Did that mean her parents were involved too!? Then that means... Hiromi felt sudden anger bubbling inside.

"Raimon... You're telling me that I only came here because I was safe here!?" Hiromi stormed up to the captain who raised his hands defensively, "Do you know how much it hurt when my parents told me Tenton Academy shut down due to some problems increasing in the school!?"

With every step Hiromi took, Natsukata stepped back until he hit the lamppost, "You lied to me! My parents! Everyone! I never wanted to come to Raimon in the first place! You knew that! But now-! You come to me and show up as captain of the soccer team representing Tenton Academy." Her words dripped from her tongue like venom. It hurt him even more, knowing that he indeed lied to her. But what could he do? He had too! Now she hated him and all he could do was look down at his feet in shame while he held onto the slim hope that she would forgive him.

"...I'm sorry-"

"Stop it. I don't need your consent." Hiromi spat, backing away but her softened glare never leaving him, "I can't believe you would do this to me. I always thought you were too busy at some other school to come visit, but I would never have expected... this. The great Natsukata Renji enrolled into the school I dreamed of going to and can't even face me like the mighty captain I've been told. Not so mighty now are you Natsukata?" Her voice had already toned down and carried no offending sarcasm... to him at least. Natsukata couldn't face her now like he expected too. He felt her walk pass him and made no effort to stop her.

"And by the way," Hiromi stopped in her tracks, their backs facing each other, "It was a mistake to use Iron Gauntlet on me." Natsukata balled his trembling hands into fists as he listened to the sounds of Hiromi's shoes walking away. Angered and ashamed, he punched the lamppost behind him, enough to leave a dent on it.

Omiwari folded his arms as he leaned against the wood with his eyebrows knitted. Something was definitely going on. Now Omiwari knew some truth of this so called 'secret'. Glimpsing from behind the tree, the Tenton captain was still frozen on the spot, glaring at the ground. If he wanted answers, he would have to start with him. Break him if needed.

* * *

Vehicles drove peacefully along the wide road to their destination. Some honking impatiently when the cars in the front slowed down to stop at the red light or others shouting at other drivers whose cars bumped into each other, but that's not where the ruckus and noise came from. It came from the inside of a caravan in blue, white and yellow.

"Hayami give that back!" Yamada yelled, reaching out to snatch the golden card back. The seatbelt he had on, however, pulled him back into his seat at the very back of the caravan.

"Then come and get it!" Hayami stuck his tongue out at him playfully.

"H-Hayami, I think you should sit down," Hamano called out to from his seat by the window. Opposite him was an empty seat, presumably belonging to the redhead who was currently prancing around on the same spot, "It's not safe to stand while the caravan's moving."

"Oh chill Hamano. We're in traffic, there's no way I can faaaaaaaallll!" Like Hamano predicted (well, almost everybody did), the caravan started moving and since there were no handrails on the ceiling of the caravan to cling on, Hayami came crashing down, "Ow..."

"Can't say he told you so," Minowari stated, looking up from his book as he adjusted his square glasses with a smile. The entire caravan burst out into roaring laughter as Hayami dizzily picked himself up. He rubbed his head sorely just as Yamada came free from his seat (he held onto the seats for a grip since the caravan was still moving) and snatched the card from Hayami's loosed hand.

"I'll take that thank you very much." Yamada said as he walked back to his seat, nearly tripping over Hiromi's duffel bag that had moved a little out from its place, "Woah, sorry about that Hiromi."

"Nah, it's alright," Hiromi replied dismissively, pulling at the strap and then kicking it under the seat where the Raimon captain sat beside the albino goalkeeper. Hiromi watched as Hayami stumbled back to his seat with no help from Hamano who just kept on preaching, "I told you so Hayami. You should have listened."

"Why didn't you put it along with the others in the back?" Sora asked, looking at Hiromi while her index finger pointed at the brunette's bag. Hiromi leaned back in her seat which was surprisingly soft and cushy since she had expected it to be about as "soft" as the seats in the public bus.

"I don't exactly like the idea of mistaking which bag's mine." She spoke the truth since the bags didn't exactly have their names sewed on it. She had noticed it when they arrived a little later with Kuroyama and Victor. Hiromi remembered how disgusted she was when she laid her eyes on the trunk, nearly full of bags belonging to the others who were already on the caravan waiting. Victor and Kuroyama rushed in and threw their bags like pieces of rubbish. Just as Hiromi was about to begrudgingly place hers, she stopped short at the sight and noticed that nobody's' names were on their respective bag. Immediately changing her mind, Hiromi asked the coach for permission to bring her bag once she climbed into the caravan.

Sora placed a finger on her chin before her eyes widened in realization. Hiromi snickered at her priceless expression, "You're regretting it aren't you?" Hiromi asked once Sora turned to her with an opened mouth. The blue haired girl shut her mouth and gave Hiromi a sheepish smile while scratching the back of her head.

"Yeah, I kinda am." Sora and Hiromi chuckled. Victor and Kuroyama, who sat across the girls heard their audible chuckle and became curious.

"What are you guys laughing about?" Victor inquired, arching an eyebrow while the shorter boy who sat next to the window, stretched his neck and pursed his lips in confusion at them.

Hiromi let out another snicker, "Nothing. Just a heads up once we get there. Good luck trying to find your bags."

Victor and Kuroyama didn't understand as they looked at each other for a moment before turning back to the brunette for another hint, or, at least, an answer. And by the looks of it, the brunette wasn't going to spill another word. The duo sighed and went back to minding their own business which was talking and admiring the players of the famous Raimon Eleven 20 years ago.

"Hey, coach! Do you know which team we're playing against?" Hayami suddenly asked out of the blue, catching everyone's unwanted attention.

"Are you sure you want to know Hayami? I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." The coach asked back, but with his seat next to the window, nobody from the back could tell for sure if he was being skeptical or was truthfully smiling mischievously.

His question was answered by Hayami's ecstatic voice, "Of course we want to know! You've been keeping us in the dark since last week's practice!"

They could hear the coach hum in thought.

"Your opponent is the Imperial Domain."

It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

"WHHAAT!?"

"We're so screwed..." Yamada moaned, burying his face in his palms. Hiromi quirked an eyebrow at him. The brunette looked away from him and only to find that everyone else was in the same state of defeat already except her, Sora, Victor, and Kuroyama. They tossed each other perplexed glances before Sora shakily spoke up, "Come on. I'm sure it can't be that bad... can it?"

Dark looks were thrown in her direction.

"So, anyways! Who's the Imperial Domain?" Hiromi hurriedly asked, protecting the defenseless blue haired manager. It wasn't meant to change the topic, but it took most of the burden away from Sora's shoulders. Hiromi watched the two defenders at the back, Yamada and Ookami, sighed in exasperation.

"For someone who plays soccer, you sure do know little about the teams." Akashi rudely commented. Hiromi gripped the seat and sent the red haired striker who sat behind her a menacing glare.

Hiromi was about to protest when Victor placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her. The brunette begrudgingly shifted back into her seat with her arms crossed as she listened to Victor retaliate her question, "So, who's the Imperial Domain?"

Minowari never left his eyes from the book he was reading as he answered before anyone else could, "They're the strongest soccer team in Japan that joined in the soccer world just last year."

"But I thought Teikoku Gakuen was the strongest team." Kuroyama said with a frown as he hoisted himself up his seat to look at the duo seating behind them. Ichijuu gave his a small shake of his head.

"Apparently they overtook their throne and claimed the title strongest in Japan." Minowari explained, shifting his eyes to Kuroyama then to Hiromi and Sora, "If it makes anyone feel any better, Teikoku comes in second place as strongest."

"There's a ranking system?" Hiromi asked with a disbelieving look. Minowari nodded.

"There is. The ranking system- as all you all know how it works- ranks every team in Japan. We're currently one of the Top 10 strongest teams in Japan."

"Which ranking?" Hiromi interrogated.

"...10." Minowari grimaced, harshly shutting his book close. He seemed worked up about their ranking. Hiromi didn't understand why being 10th in place was bad. They were still the Top 10 strongest teams in Japan, that's gotta count for something. Her eyes drifted onto the cover of the book Minowari had been reading. The book was red and thick and large golden words were engraved in the thick cover.

'Book 1: How to become stronger.' Hiromi instantly lost all her respect for the green haired defender, 'Is he serious? How'd he get on this team anyway?' Hiromi propped her cheek with one hand on the armrest.

Unfortunately, Minowari saw the look on the brunette's face and scoffed, his nose pointing to the roof, "I'll have you know, it's a very good book about strategies and how to become stronger." He held up the book next to his face for show. Hiromi blinked at the book before letting out a snicker.

"Yeah, if it wasn't about lift weighting."

The green haired genius blinked at her before turning the book around to eye level. Not a second later did he realize his mistake and was staring wide eyed at the back of the book with large golden words engraved on the book that read "LIFT WEIGHTING".

Everyone at the back chortled with laughter at his own mistake, even Mr. Killjoy suppressed a visible smirk.

Minowari turned a bright shade of red as he stuffed his lift weighting book behind his back and sat frozen from embarrassment. Ichijuu gave him no mercy as he chuckled inaudibly while patting the green haired genius' on his shoulder as a sign of reassurance.

"Awww... Lookie here. Wittle Mister Killjoy's smiling." Nishiki lilted loudly, leaning forward towards Akashi's seat and playfully poked his finger at his cheek. Akashi immediately frowned and slapped the forward's finger away, "Someone's getting cranky here. Do you need your bwottle?" He mimicked holding a milk bottle and shaking it with a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

"You're dead!" Akashi yelled enraged as he tried to pounce on Nishiki but was pulled back into his seat because he still had his seatbelt on. So he was there, thrashing his arms at the senior boy who kept laughing his head off, "You're going to be the first person I write in the Death Note!"

"I thought you weren't supposed to disrespect your seniors," Victor said with a chuckle as he, Kuroyama and the girls watched the scene before them. Akashi was about to unfastened his seatbelt when Nishiki's hands grabbed his cheek and pulled at them, showing everyone the redhead forward's pearly whites.

"But in this case, it doesn't seem they even care about being respected by their juniors." Hiromi stated, turning to him, "Heck, I'm starting to doubt this team even has any respect for each other. Well, except for Old Man Grumpy right here." She added, jabbing her thumb at the Raimon captain's seat. She received a scoff from the seat in front. Before Victor could lecture her about respect for the cold captain, Sora spoke up.

"I'm surprised actually," Instead of sitting, her knees were on the seat cushion and with her back straight and facing the seat in front of her, "Nishiki-senpai isn't the one to normally make fun of others or cause a commotion. That's more of Hayami-senpai's job."

"And you're wondering why he isn't doing his 'job'?" Hiromi inquired with a slight smirk. Sora gave her a cheeky smile, "Yup!"

"That's because Hayami's asleep right now." Hamano answered, his head resting on his folded arms as he stood on his seat in a similar way like Sora, "Long trips make him sleepily so most of the time he's not very active."

"I see. He sleeps like a rock." Sora pointed out with her index finger at the sleeping redhead. Hamano nodded, "He doesn't wake up easily. I guess he deserves some rest from being so active and hyper all the time." The dark haired midfielder said before yawning and his eyes half closed, "We should follow Hayami and get some rest. It's been a long trip so far and I want to wake up fresh. Goodnight guys." And like that, he sunk back into his seat for some well-deserved rest.

"Night Hamano-senpai," Kuroyama said. Not a second later, the short boy stretched and yawned before tiredly rubbing his eye and curling up in his seat, "Guess that's my cue. Night guys."

The trio followed his cue and leaned back in their seats, eyes closed and still. The next thing that happened, the entire caravan was enveloped in peaceful silence with the exception of light snoring from the back.

"They all look so cute when they sleep." Naomi lilted giddily, glancing behind at the sleeping Raimon captain with his head slightly tilted down. Shingestu chuckled.

"Now Naomi, we have to rest too if we want to be at the top of our game on the field." Naomi understood and nodded. She poked her chin in thought before looking at the Raimon coach, "But I find it a bit odd. They picked Raimon, and a team from Japan no less. Last time I checked, they never were interested in playing against teams from their own country. The Imperial Domain always play against other teams, not _from_ Japan, so why would they choose a home team to compete with?"

Shingestu watched her concentrating hard on the question. "Maybe we should sleep on it, Naomi. We can discuss this later." He suggested, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. The strawberry blonde woman sighed as her shoulders relaxed and nodded in agreement.

"You're right Shingestu. I don't want it to affect the team's hard work."

"You won't. Goodnight Naomi." He assured her and leaned his head on the closed curtained window.

"Night night Shingestu." She stuck out her tongue at him playfully before they both drifted off into a sleepless dream.


	7. I'm not dead!

Hey there, I'm so sorry for not being active lately. I had been busy rewriting some of the previous chapters (sorry in advance about that too, please don't kill me...) and I couldn't wreck my brain up for ideas for the next chapter. But it's completed now, finally!

Unfortunately, I won't be active again next weekend since I'll be going on an expedition trip, so I hope you'll keep in touch with the new chapters coming along and hopefully I'll get some ideas during my trip. And I'll be posting the next chapter when I come back.

\- MAGi


	8. Chapter 7: Imperial Domain Part 1

**I'm back! I am so sorry for being inactive these past few months (or was it only one month?) I've already apologized earlier but I just want to say remind you guys again. I've made some changes to the previous chapters so some parts are quite different from what you've read before. If you want to stop following this story because of that very reason, I understand but it is my choice to change it while the story continues or make a rewrite story of this (does that make any sense?)**

**Again, very sorry in advance. And I do not fancy being killed if any one of you out there is out for my blood. :(**

***Mind me, I'm not good at emojis**

**Oh, and big thanks to my cousin who proofread this chapter for me, I definitely will keep asking you to do this for me.**

**I'm actually deciding whether I should get other people, professionals or people i think their stories/writing is better than mine on the web like archive of our own to help with proofreading my chapters. If anyone's interested, you can (privately) message me or notify me in the comment box.**

* * *

Out of nowhere, a jacket was thrown at Hiromi's sleeping face. The impact made her quick to react as she pulled it off her face, "WHAT!?"

"Keep your voice down!" The person who threw the jacket hissed and clamped her mouth shut with his hand. Hiromi sent the most furious glare at the navy haired boy who wore nothing but only his white t-shirt. Victor narrowed his eyes back at her.

"What's your problem?" Hiromi toned down her voice, not caring if she did wake some people with her scream. All she wanted to do now was to punch him in the face.

"You sleep like a rock." Victor pointed out, avoiding her question. Hiromi's eye twitched as she dug her nails into the fabric. With a sweep of her arm, she struck his face with his jacket.

"What's your damn point already!?"

Muffled sounds could be heard under the jacket as Victor managed to pull it off, "Don't you realize? The caravan's stopped." Hiromi's brows rose up in realization as she turned her head in every direction. Victor was indeed right, the caravan stopped moving for some reason and almost everyone was sound asleep, not aware of their situation.

Hiromi turned back to Victor, "How long were we out?"

"A couple of hours. I woke up a few minutes before you." Victor replied, casting a glance at the captain's seat which was shockingly empty, "I don't think we're the only ones awake. I have no idea where the captain is, he's not in his seat."

It took Hiromi aback. Not in his seat? What would drive the cold-hearted captain out of his seat?

"What about Namayaki-san?"

"Can't see him from here. And... I can't exactly move from my spot either." Victor gestured to Kuroyama's head leaning against his arm, a bit of drool hanging from his opened mouth. Hiromi hadn't even noticed him sleeping against the navy haired forward.

Deciding to see for herself, Hiromi unbuckled her belt and stood up from her seat. She tip-toed and looked over her senior's seats.

"See him?" Inquired Victor.

"No, not in his seat- wait! He's in the-" Hiromi stopped short and locked her gaze across the seats with her pupils shrunk. Something was wrong.

"Hiromi, what's wrong?" He didn't give time for Hiromi to answer back and turned his attention to the front and found himself having the same reaction like her.

At the front of the caravan, Namayaki stood out in the bright rays of sunlight penetrating through the window.

But he wasn't what had scared their souls half to death.

The colour of red was splattered on a small bottom centre of the window with Namayaki blocking most of it until he craned his head to the side.

Hiromi fell back in her seat, a hand over her mouth as she and Victor stared at each other with terrified eyes. Both lost for words.

Something immediately clicked in Victor's head. His brows rose in realization at the brunette and began slowly shaking his head in disapproval.

"No... No no no no no. You are not going out there." Victor whispered, "We don't know if it's actually blood Hiromi! It could have been just a prank."

Hiromi's pupils re-shrunk themselves, "Namayaki-san wouldn't be standing still and staring at it if it wasn't! What if the others who ARE awake are outside investigating? They know what we'd crash into!"

"Okay, we'll go with your theory. We leave it to them to come back and tell us everything." Victor tried to reason.

"You expect me to sit here and wait for them like a damsel in distress?" Hiromi fumed.

"That's not what I meant! I expect you to sit and wait for the grown-ups to solve this situation!" Victor retorted.

"You know what? I'm going!" Before he could stop her, Hiromi had already stood up from her seat and march towards the albino goalkeeper.

"What are you doing?" Victor made a move and held her back, "Get back in your seat!"

"Look here lightning bangs, I'm not going to wait for a miracle to happen!" Hiromi hissed impatiently, "I'm going to find out what happened and you're not going to stop me."

"Oh yes, I will." Victor snapped, holding tightly onto her wrist with both hands. Hiromi scowled. He was really getting on her nerves. Trying to quietly yank her wrist free, a brilliant idea flickered in Hiromi's head. Whipping her head to her seat, she could see the bluenette tossing and turning her head. Hiromi supposed she was having a nightmare, seeing how much sweat was dripping from her forehead. Like lightning, she made a grab for Victor's jacket that was lying freely on his lap and threw it right at the manager's sleeping and drenched face.

"Huh!? Wha- What!?" Instantaneously, Sora awoke feverishly out of fright, turning her head around in confusion and tightly gripping onto the thrown jacket. At the same time, Victor freed Hiromi's wrist and begun to worry about his childhood friend.

Taking advantage of this, Hiromi stepped away from them, throwing a victorious smirk at the distracted forward. Sora was panicking too much to register what was going on. With that, the brunette casually walked away to the front, careful not to make any sounds that would trigger the albino goalkeeper's ears. Once she neared Namayaki, Hiromi could see he was immensely concentrated on the blood.

This was the perfect chance to escape.

From the corner of her eye, Hiromi noticed the doors were wide opened and shifted her attention to the controls in the driver's seat. A lever stood out next to the seat. Hiromi was no expert in vehicle mechanics or controls but she could definitely tell that was the leverage to the doors. If it was possible to push the lever and get out of the caravan before the doors closed...

'I've gotta do it now, before either one of them stops me.' Hiromi thought, eyeing Namayaki, then Victor and back at the level. With one swift move, Hiromi kicked the lever and sprinted off to the doors as the timer began ticking down.

Namayaki whipped his head side to side after hearing the sound of the lever being push down and the last thing he saw exit the doors of the caravan before it completely shut off were stands of pink and brown hair mixed together.

"Hiromi!?"

* * *

Hiromi landed a few feet away after a close jump she had made before the doors closed completely. Hiromi decided to ignore Namayaki's shocked face pressed on the glass, followed by the sounds of him banging on the door. Hiromi stretched her head and caught a glimpse of the ones awake crowded around something Hiromi assumed they hit. The brunette could barely make out the people due to the painful rays of the sun greeting her eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" A voice asked rather indignant and stern. Hiromi jumped and spun around to be greeted by a slightly far more painful and jarring than the sun.

"Shit." Hiromi cursed under her breath, taking a step back from the person behind her. Unfortunately, Omiwari heard her.

"I'll repeat again. What are you doing out here?" Omiwari begun to advance on her, with each step he took towards her, Hiromi took a step back to avoid him.

"The same reason you're out here." Hiromi countered, putting her foot down while glaring back at the purple-haired captain furiously. A moment of silence joined in their glaring session.

"Get back inside NOW." He emphasized the last word and pointed a finger at the closed doors.

"Make me!" Hiromi dared, subconsciously spreading her arms out. That did it. She disrespected her senior and captain whose face flared up almost in an instant. She braced herself for his incoming yell.

"That's enough. BOTH OF YOU."

The duo instantly whipped their heads to the stern voice of the third party.

"Coach!" His black eyes narrowed in disapproval at his players.

"As players of the same team, you should know how to respect each other. I would've thought you two should know that by now." He scolded, watching them bow their heads in shame and turned to Hiromi, "What are you doing out here Hiromi?"

The brunette felt a sense of unfair treatment bestowed upon her, "The same reason you're out here." She answered through clenched teeth, not wanting to risk disrespecting her coach instead.

"Coach, I had no idea she would come out here," Omiwari spoke up. Hiromi growled, she couldn't believe it! He was trying to save his ass by acting innocent. Sadly the coach didn't believe his words and sent the captain a hard look. Omiwari swallowed, "Namayaki and I did expect someone to escape but I didn't think _she'd_ escape so easily." He sent a glare in the brunette's direction who turned a blind eye.

"Blame your albino haired friend there for not doing his 'job'," Hiromi muttered bitterly under her breath.

The coach let his gaze linger on the brown haired midfielder for a while before sighing, "You two are _impossible_." He sighed, exasperated, opting his two players to look up at him in curiosity, "Fine, I'll let you off the hook, for now, Hiromi. I suppose it is entirely my fault. I was too focus on the accident and didn't give any clear instructions to Namayaki and Omiwari to prevent anyone from coming out."

Hiromi stared at the coach in befuddlement. Did she hear him right? It wasn't her fault! The coach wasn't going to make her go back inside! While Hiromi was smiling victoriously, Omiwari was downright shocked and gawking at the coach.

"But coach-!"

"The others will find out sooner or later Omiwari." The coach cut in calmly, shutting the begrudging captain's mouth close, "I am quite glad nobody else is out here. All I want to do now is get this over. We already have a bigger issue at hand and I don't want to have to deal with you two bickering again, understood? Good. Now come along, it's not a pretty sight."

Before Hiromi could follow behind him, she felt Omiwari rudely shove passed her. Hiromi gritted teeth as she followed after, keeping a good distance away from the Raimon captain.

"Don't mind Shingetsu." Naomi assured after seeing Hiromi arrive, "He's really grumpy when he doesn't get his sleep."

Hiromi turned away from Naomi and her face went pale the moment she laid her eyes on what was in front of her. A pig, adult by the looks of it was lying dead and lifeless in the middle. A pool of blood had formed underneath the poor animal and one could tell it was still fresh.

Hiromi choked at the smell of blood. She pinched her nose and subconsciously took a step back. "We never said it smelled good." She heard Omiwari mumble from her side. He was probably still sulking about her being here, but Hiromi couldn't care less about his feelings.

"What hap-"

"Patricia! Patricia! My dear pig!" A sudden cry in a heavy French accent cut her off. A man dressed in black harshly shoved both Hiromi and Naomi to the side and stood in between them. His eyes solely focused on the dead pig, "Oh no... no no no no no No! My dear, dear darling little pig! Please wake up, for me darling Patricia..."

The man collapsed on his knees and bent his body over the dead pig as if to protect it. Hiromi watched the poor man weep in remorse over his dead pig when Hiromi whipped her head behind her to the sounds of loud chanting and rumbling footsteps, "Coach! Coach Giovanni!"

A boy with sandy blonde hair and blue goggles rushed in between Hiromi and Naomi and knelt down beside the dark clothed man. "Coach! What happened?" His worried expression dropped at the sight of the pig in the man's arms.

"He." Giovanni growled, looking up and directing his eyes burning with intense fury at Fukuha, "You... YOU DID THIS TO HER!"

He harshly shoved Patricia into the boy's arms and immediately marched up to the petrified man who ducked behind Shingetsu, "YOU KILLED MY PRECIOUS PATRICIA YOU MONSTER! AND NOW I WILL END YOUR LIFE!"

Before anyone could stop him, the man pounced on Fukuha who shrieked and scrambled away as fast as he could. Giovanni chased after him.

"No! Stop this!" Shingestu yelled after he saw Fukuha trip and fall to the ground. The raging coach had his hands on his neck, about to choke him.

Fukuha stared back terrified at the man above him with his hands on his neck, about to choke him, "P-p-please, s-sir... I-I didn't- A-Ack!"

"Silence you demon!" Giovanni yelled, tightening his grip on the driver's neck, "You killed my precious pig! And you will meet the same fate as her!"

"I said STOP IT!" The coach and Omiwari jumped in and pulled the man away as Naomi fell to her knees beside Fukuha with Hiromi on the other side, "Naomi, take Fukuha-san inside the caravan and shut the doors! NOW!" The coach commanded as he and Omiwari held the French man off. Naomi nodded as she and Hiromi lifted the petrified driver to his feet.

"No! Come back here you pig killer!" Giovanni screamed, watching Naomi and Hiromi quickly paced away with Fukuha. He freed himself of Shingetsu and Omiwari's grip and ran after them.

They were about to get Fukuha inside the caravan when. "Hiromi! Watch out!" Omiwari's shout caused the brunette spin her head around to see the man frighteningly nearing them.

"Naomi-san! Hurry!" Hiromi cried, using full force to push Fukuha all the way in and without thinking, Hiromi push the doors shut with Naomi and Namayaki screaming at her to get in.

"NO!" Hiromi shut her eyes, bracing herself for the incoming attack of the mad man. But it never came.

"NO! LET ME HAVE HIM!"

Hiromi's eyes snapped opened and the first thing she saw was someone in front of her holding back the raging coach.

"Coach, stop it! He's not worth it!" The person shouted, pushing back the coach. He whipped his head over to Hiromi, "Get in! I'll hold him back!"

Hiromi didn't have to be told twice. The doors automatically opened again and with one big leap, Hiromi was safe from danger. She wanted to get a good look at her saviour once the doors closed but a familiar voice rang out loudly and in seconds, two arms wrapped themselves around her neck.

"Hiromi!" Sora cried, not realizing she was cutting the brunette off of her air supply, "Are you alright!? You shouldn't have gone out there!" She scolded the blue faced brunette when she pulled away, "I was so worried!"

Hiromi didn't have enough time to breathe as Sora embraced her in another tight hug around the neck. "Sora... Let... Go..." Hiromi choked. Thankfully for her, everyone in the caravan was already wide awake and dashed in between the two girls to yank them away before Sora could strangle her to death. Hiromi stumbled away on her feet as she refilled back her air supply with heavy pants. While she rubbed her sore neck, her teammates beside her rubbed her back reassuringly and some chuckling.

From the corner of her eye, Hiromi noticed that Victor and Kuroyama were standing beside Sora with a few others and (Victor) was lightly scolding her. Sora had her head lowered in shame. Hiromi took another heavy pant, sooner or later Hiromi knew how their conversation would escalate to if she stayed in her spot and let Sora walk up and apologize to her. She'd be firing rapid questions at her regarding happened outside and that was the last thing Hiromi wanted to do. Explain.

Luckily for her, Hiromi didn't have to think up of an excuse when a high pitched shriek broke out.

Naomi and a few others were trying to calm Fukuha down who had been seated back at his original seat.

"It's alright Fukuha-san. He's not going to get you. You're safe." Naomi soothed, reaching out to wipe his drenched forehead with a cloth. Fukuha pulled away when it came in contact with his skin. The terrified man hugged his seat for dear life as he whimpered in fear.

"It's no use." Minowari said defeated, "He's too petrified."

"Well, it won't last long." Naomi countered back, not giving up hope, "He'll get over it. Why don't the rest of you sit down? I'll take care of him."

Hiromi could see the worried looks Naomi turned a blind eye from before they dispersed away from the strawberry blonde woman. She saw Sora run up to Kimiko who had assisted Naomi and frantically asked her questions. But all Kimiko could do was shake her head disappointingly, neither did she know what happened nor could she give a proper answer.

"He's petrified is all I can say Sora," Kimiko answered, lowering her gaze at the thought she couldn't contribute much to help Fukuha's state. People Hiromi had bonded with over the school days and soccer practices gathered around the greenette, "I don't know what happened out there, but it doesn't seem they're at the moment to talk about it."

In the sheer moment of realization, Hiromi knew they were talking about them. All five of them who were outside to witness the madness happening outside and only four of them were inside busy with something else. Hiromi straight up walked towards where the coach and captain were, at the window the second the group left their gaze on them.

Kimiko was right about one thing, they weren't in the moment to speak, but to hell, she was going to be their first victim.

Hiromi noticed Namayaki standing at the window and decided to approach him instead. She needed to make herself look like she was busy.

"What's going on out there?" Hiromi asked, trying to sound casual as she glanced at the albino haired goalkeeper.

Namayaki raised an eyebrow at her before turning back to look at the window, craning his neck away from the confirmed blood and to the corner of the window.

"They seem to be fighting." His answer short and direct. Hiromi stretched her neck and indeed see the two men fighting with words. Or at least one of them looked like a man. Hiromi could see the person who saved her perfectly clear; he was wearing a long sleeved jersey; dark green in colour with white markings and white shorts. He was buff in size, skin tan in colour with short green hair and forest green eyes.

Hiromi knew he was a goalkeeper by the uniform, but she couldn't tell which team they were. Namayaki took note of the distress going on in her head and with a sigh, he decided to tell her.

"Those people out there, they're the Imperial Domain." That got her attention. No, Hiromi didn't turn around and say "What?" like he would have expected her to do, instead, her eyes widened in astonishment. Namayaki continued with a cough, "The man out there is their coach, Giovanni Abel."

He pointed to the man stomping his foot down angrily. He looked like he was about to burst a vein because it literally began showing on his cheek.

Hiromi propped up her cheek with a hand, "Was this supposed to be a surprise? You were hesitant to tell me about it." Though she didn't exactly meet his eye earlier, Hiromi heard his sigh and to her, it sounded like defeat.

Namayaki scratched his neck and flashed her a sheepish smile, "Well... I guess you could say that. Honestly, it didn't turn out the way we expected." Hiromi hummed in reply.

"...What did you see out there? You know the thing we hit." He asked in a whisper, probably because the captain was occupying his other side. Hiromi sensed he was reluctant to ask her since he knew the five of them weren't exactly in the mood to talk about, but she would've thought by now he knew what they hit.

Hiromi sighed. So much for avoiding conversations that regarded what happened earlier, "We hit a pig." For some reason, Namayaki's eyes widened.

"Did it belong to anyone?"

Hiromi nodded, "The coach's. Giovanni Abel. He came rushing between us and crying over the dead pig he called Patricia."

"Funny. I never thought he had a pet pig." Namayaki commented, suspicion rising in his voice as he rubbed his chin. Hiromi turned to him, confused, "I've seen their team play against other non-Japanese teams before, but-"

"So?" Hiromi interrupted as she received a glare from her senior.

"But Coach Abel is famous for bringing his beloved pet to every one of their matches and that 'pet' being said is Vincent, his eagle." Namayaki finished, "What I'm saying is, Coach Abel is publicly famous since their team is rank 1 out of the strongest soccer teams in Japan. If he had a pet pig, news would have already spread out among everyone like rapid fire and we would know it by now. But we don't. Making it all the more suspicious."

Hiromi averted her eyes at him with an arched brow, "So you're saying that pig can't be his?" Surely keeping a second animal a secret isn't that suspicious. Maybe he didn't want anyone to know. People keep secrets all the time. She decided to disregard his reply.

"I assume so. It's not like I have evidence to prove that Patricia DOESN'T belong to him." Namayaki responded, putting their conversation to an end. Hiromi let out an inaudible sigh and turned her attention back to the glass. She could see the goalkeeper and coach glaring daggers at each other, almost about to be at each other's throats again while their teammates surrounded them.

"Coach! I think they want us to come out!" Hamano alarmingly called once he pulled his face away from the glass of the doors, "I think they're saying it's safe and all they want is to talk." He and a few others who stood near the entrance and exit of the caravan stepped away for the coach to see out the window for himself. The coach pulled himself away from the glass.

"Hamano's right. We should go out and see what they want."

"All of us?" Yamada asked skeptically.

The coach nodded, "All of us. But before we step out of this vehicle, I want you all to keep this reminder in your head, understood?" He received a bunch of affirmative nods, "Out there is our first opponent, the Imperial Domain. We had just struck our car into an animal crossing the road-" Loud gasping, "So I want all of you to stay silent and let me do the talking. I don't want any outbursts that could provoke them."

"But what if they provoked us?" Nishiki mumbled, unfortunately, the coach heard him from earshot.

"Then we keep our anger under control." He narrowed his eyes as a warning at the dark haired boy who turned away and whistled innocently, "Alright, let's go. Fukuha, you can stay here, please open the doors for us and shut them once we're out." He told the terrified driver who barely nodded in response. The doors automatically opened and one by one, they reluctantly stepped out to greet the faces of their opponent with apprehensive looks.

Once Hiromi hopped off from the caravan, the first thing she saw was the Imperial Domain standing together, some throwing their team dangerous looks. What really caught Hiromi's attention wasn't the coach dressed in black and standing in the front with a threatening look, it was the goalkeeper standing beside him. He was the only one with the most sympathetic look on his face and the way he looked at her, Hiromi could tell it was directed to her. Her eyes moved to the orange captain's band on his left arm.

Hiromi pushed herself to the front when her teammates began gathering together to face off the other team. She stood beside the coach with the captain occupying his other side. Hiromi peeked at the coach's face that held a brave expression before turning her attention to the strongest team in front of them.

"Have you cooled off yet?" The coach asked coolheadedly. It seemed to have triggered something terrifying in the other coach's head because his eye was twitching with irritation and a vein began showing.

"Cooled off!? Are you out of your mind you mad man!?" Giovanni bellowed, throwing his hands up in frustration, "My precious pig, Patricia is dead and you, _mon ami_ are asking me if I, Giovanni Abel, have cooled off yet!?" He stomped up and jabbed a finger at Shingestu's chest.

"I'm was merely asking a question if you wanted to speak to us in a proper manner and not vent off your anger at us." Shingestu said, pushing the other man's finger away. He was a few centimetres taller, making him slightly more intimidating and towering to the Imperial Domain coach, but the latter wouldn't back himself down to be intimidated.

"I have every right to blame her death on you!"

"Then I suggest you take this somewhere else or take an anger management class!" It was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was in total shock at his outburst. Giovanni gritted his teeth.

"This. Means. War!" Giovanni roared. Shingetsu narrowed his eyes at the Imperial Domain coach, "We will settle this battle on the field! If you win we let you pass and forgot like this never happened, but..." His lips curled into a sinister smile, causing Hiromi to narrow her eyes dangerously at him, "If we win, The Imperial Domain, you'll have to submit one of your teammates to us."

Loud, audible gasps came out from the Raimon team's mouths. They all averted their eyes at the unmoving coach, hoping with all their might that he wouldn't agree.

"Which one?" Shingestu inquired with a dark look. Giovanni's smile broaden and threatening.

"If I were to choose, which I can." He added haughtily, "It would be the brunette!" Hit like lighting, Hiromi stared at the powerful finger at her, shocked out of her life than anybody else in her team. She was rendered speechless, "I sense great talent from your brown haired player, born with it if I may add. And not to mention a fiery passion for her beloved sport! All the better reason to have her on my team." He ended his speech with a sinister smile like he had already won the battle.

"Shingestu, you CAN'T seriously agree to this!" Naomi exclaimed, clutching his arm, "We can't afford to lose a member to some unfair game! Especially if they're just NEW!" In just a split second, the entire team erupted in pleas of desperation, pressuring the coach.

"You can't let them take Hiromi!"

"It's unfair!"

"Coach, you just can't!"

"Coach..." Omiwari's soft voice carried itself to Hiromi's ears. She had been so stunned, she blocked out all other noises outside her mind to focus on the threat bestowed upon her. Though in her paralyzed state, the captain's voice somehow managed to break through and snap her back to reality. She could hear everyone's voices, all pleas of desperation. Hiromi dared to look up and what she saw was the dark look on the coach's face and her face too darkened at his next words.

"You have yourself a deal."

"Shingestu!" Naomi screamed, digging her nails into the fabric and skin. The coach clenched his teeth in agony.

"Well, we'll see you on the field, no?" Giovanni smirked and turned his heel, "Show them the way there after your introductions." He assigned a boy of the team who nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting up into a similar smirk. Satisfied, Giovanni walked away, leaving the two teams alone with a tensed atmosphere.

"Mark Domain." Omiwari whipped his head at the name and was met with the face of a sandy blonde haired boy with blue goggles. The smirking boy extended his hand out for a shake, "It will be a pleasure to play against you."

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**Welp, you've gotten this far. Now you gotta wait for part 2 to come out.**

**Comment pls, you can tell me if there's any parts confusing or mistakes I didn't over see.**


	9. Chapter 8: Imperial Domain Part 2

**Yeeeaaaaah! 8th chapter's up, hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Oh and I also made some changes to Shizuzuka's goalkeeper uniform. It's now dark green with white marking and white shorts, you'll see why when you read the chapter. Sorry about that, I just thought it suit him better than white. And the imperial domain's uniform is light greyish peach (don't ask, that's just how I describe it) with blue shorts. I think I didn't mention it in the last chapter... oh well.**

* * *

 "Mark Domain. It will be a pleasure to play against you."

The Raimon captain glared daggers at him, refusing to shake his hand to which the captain of the other team scoffed.

"How disrespectful." He turned his back to them, "I won't even bother with the introductions, you already know us." He said haughtily, "But it doesn't seem that your _'additionals'_ do."

Omiwari threw a sideway glance at the group of four who looked up in mild shock before glaring at his back. One looked like she was about to run up and give him a good fist in the face introduction, but was held off by her friends.

They may be additionals to the team, but it was his cocky attitude that got them all riled up.

"You know, I can't even begin to believe we have to play against you!" The sandy haired boy howled with laughter at the Raimon team. Two of his teammates carried their smug smiles over to join him in his mockery, "I've seen you play and it's pathetic! Rank number 10, that isn't much of an achievement now is it?"

Omiwari narrowed his eyes at the boy. He was trying to provoke them.

"At least we're part of the Top 10 you little twit!" Miwana shouted to which she received a loud scolding from the Raimon coach.

Mark laughed again, enjoying watching them all easily provoked, "I mean, what good is it to be number 10? If you ask me, Tenton Academy is a much better opponent. At least THEY'RE soaring to number 1, just look at the ranking! They're unstoppable while this pathetic excuse of a team," He gestured to Raimon, "Is staying flat on the ground thinking that being number 10 is great! Tell me, when was the last time you actually-"

"That's enough," A heavy hand placed itself on the sandy-haired boy's shoulder. Mark looked up and scowled at the captain of the team, "We're here to bring them to the field, not to make fun of them."

Mark shoved the hand away and crossed his arms, "Tch. Whatever _greeny_. Just because you're my captain doesn't mean you can boss me around."

Most people would have widened their eyes at his words, but it looked like the opposing team reacted with little emotion. Like it was normal for them and not to intervene.

"I'd watch my attitude if I were you Domain." The captain threatened, cracking his knuckles to show his strength.

Sweating slightly from the intimidation of his captain, Mark turned away, going back to his usual arrogant self, "W-Whatever! Let's just go!" He hastily marched off to the entrance that led to the field along with the rest of the team following after. Their captain was the only one who stood alone with the Raimon team.

"I'm really sorry about my teammate's behaviour. He's always like this." The captain of the Imperial Domain apologized shamefully, "Shizuzuka Shiota, captain of the Imperial Domain." He offered a friendly smile to go along with his waiting hand.

Being taken aback by the sudden kind behaviour, Omiwari became wary. Shizuzuka sensed his discomfort and reeled back his hand.

"Come on, the coach is waiting for us. I'll bring you there!- Since all my other teammates left me." He added mumbling. With his heel turned, the green haired captain beckoned for the team to follow him to the field of the school stadium.

Most were hesitant and looked at one another, unsure and expecting the other to follow first, but when the Raimon captain bravely followed after, the rest complied.

Like where Mark and the rest of the team members disappeared to, a dome-shaped entrance automatically opened for them to enter. When the last person stepped in, the doors trapped them in, causing the team to panic from the sound and lack of sunlight.

Suddenly, glowing blue lights lit up dimly, brightening the area which was revealed to be a hallway, "Come on. Follow me." Shinzuzuka called with a rather eager grin well hidden from sight. He led the bewildered team across the hallway after their panic had cooled down.

"This is really cool." Kuroyama breathed, his voice echoing as he looked around still amazed by the sudden light show.

The moment Kuroyama whipped his head away from the ceiling, he emitted a loud shriek that hurt everyone's ears.

"Aiyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"Kuroyama! What's wrong?" Victor asked, kneeling behind the fallen boy. He never knew Kuroyama could scream like a girl. Looking up, Victor couldn't believe his eyes at the sight.

"Woah."

A grand dolphin stared back with an innocent smile on its face. It then suddenly gave out a hearty laugh and swam freely in the water sealed above them.

"Cool." Hiromi breathed, admiring the dolphin swim all the way to the other side.

Minowari pushed up in glasses while in awe, "Amazing! I would never have thought there'd be an aquarium in the school!".

"Look at all the aquatic animals!" Kimiko squealed with excitement, rushing up to the glass with a pencil in her hand ready to sketch.

While everyone was gushing over the aquarium, Omirawi felt wary about the sudden surprise and wondered if the opposing captain was trying to play mind tricks on them by acting all nice and friendly. Omiwari even bet he was showing off too. The Raimon captain stole a glance at the green haired captain next to him with his attention and palm resting on the glass.

The same dolphin came back while doing a happy little loop before coming to where the hand was. It rubbed its head affectionately against the other side of the glass.

"This is Dolly." Shizuzuka introduced the dolphin, catching everyone's uninvited attention, "Ex-professional circus performer."

"A circus?" Yamada questioned. Shizuzuka nodded.

"Yup. The best of the best before she retired from her day job," He explained, watching the dolphin laugh again and swim away to join her aquatic friends, "She resides here in the school's aquarium and is under our care. She currently belongs to Mark-"

"Hang on. Mark?" Yamada interrupted with a face of perplexion, "You mean that arrogant brat? He's her owner?"

Shizuzuka nodded again, only, this time, there was no smile, "Unfortunately yes. The coach's the one who gave Dolly as a pet gift to him. Their relationship is like father and son. Needless to say, he doesn't take good care of her, so it's my job to ensure she lives healthily."

Like that, he turned his heel and began walking with the team trailing closely behind.

"What about your about your other teammates?" Miwana asked, her arms folded and a few feet away from the leading captain.

"We take turns but I don't trust some of them to do the job well, sad to say." He replied with a sheepish grin.

"You don't trust your teammates?" Naomi wondered aloud, forcing everyone to look at the opposing captain's turned back.

"Not the job only, on the field as well." His voice carried a depressed tone that rendered everyone speechless, "It's what we call corruption."

For the entire trip to the field, nobody said a word, not even Kuroyama. Nobody felt at ease with the silence and tension in the air. Luckily it didn't last long as they carried on away from the aquarium to a bright light source in front of them.

"Well, we're here."

Numerous gasps sounded in awe, although their field was humongous, it greatly resembled a stadium field than a normal school field.

Shizuzuka spotted his team not far away on the grassy field, apparently waiting for him.

"I'll be retreating back to my team now, best of luck." He wished them and ran back to his team, leaving the Raimon team in a dust.

"I see you have finally arrived." The dark and looming voice of the Imperial Domain coach made everyone jump. Out of the dark, Giovanni appeared with a strained yet sinister smile like earlier. The light that entered from the glass roof covered only half of his face while an eagle was perched on his shoulder, holding a predating look, "I hope you are prepared to lose Raimon. But enough with the- what do you call that? Chit chat. Let us begin the battle!"

He dramatically swung his arm to behind him which sent the eagle flying as it's caws echoed loudly in the gigantic stadium walls.

"WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE FIRST MATCH OF PREMILARIES! RAIMON VERSUS IMPERIAL DOMAIN!" Getaku Larino shouted at the top of his lungs. His sudden appearance shocked Miwana and the other managers.

"What the hell!? How did you get here!?"

"A COMMENTATOR NEVER REVEALS HIS SECRETS! NEVER!" He yelled, "NOW LET US BEGIN THE MATCH!"

A referee appeared on the field and with a whistle in his hand. The sound rang loudly in the enclosed field.

The game had begun.

"THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN STARTS OFF WITH THEIR KICKOFF!" The commentator began, "OTONASHI IS COMING IN HOT WITH THE BALL IN PERFECT POSSESSION!"

A forward with orange hair and electric blue eyes dashed passed Nishiki and Victor before they could reach him and in a blink of an eye, the other two Imperial Domain forwards rushed passed them too.

"Otonashi!" The girl forward yelled. She had striking blue hair with different colour eyes; magenta and amber. Her fellow teammate nodded and passed the ball to her who advanced further on the field.

Ichijuu and Hamano slid in to tackle the ball away, but she easily jumped over them with the ball between her feet and kicked it over to the third forward with crimson red hair and green eyes.

Hiromi stopped running, noticing something strange going on on the field. With a whip of her head, she looked at their goal to see the rest of the team standing there doing nothing!

'They're not even playing!' Hiromi thought, watching the sandy blonde haired boy send her a smug smile. At that moment, Victor had reached her.

"You noticed too?" Hiromi nodded, "Right, we'll deal with them later, for now, we have to stop THEM from scoring." With another nod from the brunette, the two players sped off towards the crowded goal.

"No!" Yamada shouted as the ball flew above his head, "Kuroyama! Block it!"

Kuroyama didn't have to be told twice. He had the ball right where he wanted and ran back with open arms ready to catch it.

"I got it!" He alarmed, leaping from his spot. He was so close to grabbing the ball when Akiyama, the third forward jumped from his side and sent the ball zooming towards the open goal right before his very eyes.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! IMPERIAL DOMAIN SCORES THE FIRST POINT IN JUST SECONDS!"

Kuroyama who had been shocked from the goal fell and landing on his backside instead of his feet. Hayami who was standing close to him, offered his hand, "Thanks, Hayami-san. Ow..." Kuroyama rubbed his sore spot before noticing Hiromi and Victor near him.

"I guess we lost the first point," Hiromi stated, glancing at the scoreboard that turned Imperial Domain's zero to a one. She shifted her gaze onto the three forwards returning back to their side of the team, "And they ended it so quickly too."

"That's the Imperial Domain for you." Ookami said, walking up to the bemused group, "They end their games quickly and swiftly. One of their advantages is ball keeping. They have perfect possession of the ball in all of their games."

"Looks like it," Hiromi said, never leaving her gaze on their opponents.

"But I've never seen THAT kind of teamwork before." Kuroyama said a bit degraded and annoyed, "It strikes me weird they would send their forwards to play only."

"It's not exactly a foul play either." Yamada explained before sending a smirk, "But their definition of teamwork is different from ours."

For a minute, he left the trio clueless until their captain alerted them that the next round was about to start and shooed them back to their positions.

"NISHIKI BRINGS THE BALL UP CONFIDENTLY! JUST LOOK AT THAT SMILE!"

Nishiki broadly grinned at the compliment as he outran one of the midfielders of the other team and passed the ball to Hamano who received the ball with ease.

But the moment he looked up from the ball, Hamano instantly panicked at the sight of his opponents; he could see their sadistic smiles as clear as day from the closing the distance between them. Fortunately, a plan escalated quickly in his mind.

Hamano began to run towards his opponents with a confident look. In seconds, water began to form in front of him and ball, stretching itself all the way to the back like a gust of wind blowing the water strongly until Hamano and the ball was enveloped inside the jet of water. Water currents began to form and spin rapidly around the jet of water due to the speed Hamano was quickly picking up.

"Current Dash!"

Hamano instantly passed his opponents before bursting out from the rapid water currents, completely dry and unharmed.

"Hiromi!" He shouted, kicking the ball to the brunette from afar while their opponents were distracted.

However, once Hiromi received the ball and brought it up, a blur surpassed her and a sandy blonde boy with goggles appeared to stop her in her tracks.

"You forgot," Mark mocked, the ends of his mouth curling into a sly smile that made Hiromi narrow her eyes, "We're the Imperial Domain."

With a loud whistle he made, Hiromi turned around to see four or five more people surround and trap her.

'Not again!' Hiromi thought, the events of Whirlwind Tornado flooding into her mind. With her quick and thoughtless thinking, Hiromi angled herself to kick the ball at Victor who was running towards the goal, ready to receive her kick.

"Victor!" Much to Hiromi's utter confusion and dismay, the ball didn't reach Victor like she thought it would. Instead, the sky repelled the ball back to her while shedding light to the trap she was stuck in.

Hiromi whipped her head at Mark who was overflowing with purple energy around him. Before Hiromi could blink, Mark snapped his fingers as a signal to his teammates who all ran towards a defenseless Hiromi.

"Invisible Barrier!"

As they frighteningly neared her, Hiromi felt the roof of the said invisible barrier shrink and was forced to her knees due to the quick and forceful pressure applied on her head and body. Hiromi gritted her teeth in pain.

"Hiromi!" Shingestu yelled in worry, watching their opponents purposely walk towards her, to make her first experience suffering and painful.

Giovanni smirked at the sight on the field.

"Hiromi!" Omiwari shouted, running towards her but was blocked by their opponents.

Hiromi felt the sounds of footsteps stop, but with what little space she had, Hiromi only could crane her neck slightly to meet the demonic sandy blonde haired jerk.

"We thought we'd make the experience more painful for you." His voice dripping with venom that made Hiromi want to do nothing more but than to choke him. Hiromi's head was bowed down due to the increasing force of the roof, but her eyes never left him, "Heh. I'll be taking the ball now, thank you very much."

And what seemed to be a miracle and a disaster, Mark stole the ball away with ease and the entire barrier shattered before Hiromi knew it.

"Ijimaru!" Mark sent the ball flying towards a midfielder with greyish brown hair and dull green eyes. Ijimaru smirked and along with his teammates close to him, they advanced towards the goal. Mark sent the brunette one last mocking look before chasing after his teammates to assist in their second goal.

For a second, Omiwari's blockers suddenly dashed away, leaving him with only a minimal amount of time to glanced at the floored brunette.

"Are you alright?" Victor asked, he and Hamano standing above her.

"I'm fine." Hiromi once again lied, "It's just a headache, that's all." Omiwari seized this opportunity to send commands to his teammates.

"Block them! They're going to score!"

"Minowari! Go left! Hayami the right!" Ookami barked, "Bara! You and me in the middle!" Like commanded, the defense team split to occupy the 2 players of the team. Minowari had one of the players with the ball in their possession.

"Chemical X!" Stomping his foot on the ground, in a blink of an eye, a large circle of green substance appeared and spread out, increasing the size. Though is was made to trap his opponents, however, they seemingly had predicted it and before their feet could touch the green, Ijimaru sent a flying kick to the ball across the field onto Hayami's side.

"Mark!" He passed Hayami while he was distracted. His other teammates were unfortunate.

"Kuroyama! Stop him!" The sounds of the Raimon team echoed, but Kuroyama didn't have to be told twice. It was clear he had to stop the ball.

"Static..." Kuroyama withdrew his hands that began crackling with static electricity, ready to thrust them forward.

Mark held an arrogant smirk that meant trouble. He suddenly screeched to a stop and seconds, something along the colours of blue, black and purple energy sprouted out of his back and gradually grew larger until it took form of something horrendous.

"Goddess Medusa!"

The form was a woman from the waist up and wearing a purple dress with the bottom being a sort of tail connected to Mark's back. The woman was green-skinned, her deadly eyes in the colour of bright red, wide-mouth and her long tongue dangling freely. What caught their eyes was the monster's head, instead of normal hair, it was replaced by thousands of snake heads hissing at everything they laid eyes on.

While everyone had their eyes on the monster, Mark raised his leg and gave a powerful kick to the ball.

"QUEEN OF THE SNAKES!"

As the ball headed towards the goal with a white streak being it, the giant woman suddenly and scarily chased after it. The deadly snakes on her head hissed loudly as she emitted her own ear-deafening screech making everyone put their hands over their ears.

"CHARGE!" Kuroyama yelled, thrusting his hands forward. The silent burst of crackling bolts impacted with the ball just in time. Kuroyama felt himself being slowly forced back along with the soil from his shoes. Gritting his teeth, Kuroyama dared to stare past the bright bolts at the woman's terrifying blood red eyes who screamed at him. And in seconds, Kuroyama felt something from the ground crawl up his legs.

It felt rocky and slightly jagged.

The moment Kuroyama looked down at his feet was the moment when he let his guard down. The ball penetrated through his block hissatsu and hit the goal before Kuroyama could realize what happened.

"GOOOOAAAAAAAL!" Getaku hollowed, "THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN SCORES THEIR SECOND POINT THANKS TO QUEEN OF THE SNAKES!"

Kuroyama winced in pain as he watched the rocks slowly crawl back to the earth. The sudden penetration had made him arch his back, resulting in him to cut himself from the back of the knees.

The whistle blew and Getaku's voice rang again, "THERE GOES THE WHISTLE! THE FIRST HALF OF THE MATCH IS OVER!"

With the help of his fellow teammates, Kuroyama slowly limped over to the bench.

"What kind of hissatsu techniques was that?" Sora inquired in hopes of getting her answer by anyone. Kuroyama was sat as Kimiko applied the medicine on his wound.

"One of Domain's famous hissatsu techniques." Ookami answered, "If anyone stares into that woman's eyes, they'll get petrified from the legs up unless they stare into the eyes long enough to turn completely into stone." He rubbed his chin in thought. Sora gasped in horror.

"You mean like petrification!? Wouldn't they suffocate in that body of stone?" Ookami opened his mouth to say something.

"The cuts were very deep, I don't think you'll be able to play for the second round Kuroyama," Kimiko spoke and stood up, revealing the short boy's bandaged knees. Kuroyama looked at the ground sadly.

"I understand."

Namayaki offered a reassuring smile and a hand on the shoulder, "Don't look down yet Kuroyama. I'll make sure they don't score. Scout's honour." Kuroyama smiled weakly.

Miwana turned to Hiromi, "How's your head kid?" To which the brunette shook her head.

"Just a minor headache. It's gone now."

"It's time." The captain announced before glancing back at his team, "And Namayaki, don't get yourself killed." The albino haired goalkeeper gave a sly grin.

"Whatever you say... mom."

Not a second later, the whistle rang again.

"AND THE SECOND HALF STARTS OFF WITH RAIMON'S KICKOFF!"

Victor passed the ball to Nishiki.

"AND OFF THEY GO! DETERMINED TO SCORE THE NEXT GOAL AFTER BEING CRUSHED TO BITS BY THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN!"

'Thanks so much for the support.' Hiromi rolled her eyes as she stole the ball back from a forward named Mizusaki who stole the ball from Nishiki. But it felt easy. Way too easy. Like she was letting her have the ball. Hiromi shook her head, 'Now's not the time to think about that. It's the second half, we've got to score!'

"Victor!" Hiromi passed the ball up front to the sprinting boy. Victor received the ball and brought it up with the captain and Ichijuu tagging behind him. Hiromi suddenly slowed down, her eyebrows rose up in realization and confusion.

'Why aren't they moving?' She thought, watching the midfielders stand frozen on the ground and let Victor pass them.

"What?" Victor whispered, distracted by their actions.

"Victor, don't let your guard down!" Omiwari warned but by the time the navy haired boy realized their situation, it was too late.

"AND WHITEMAN STEALS THE BALL WITH A SLIDE!" Victor hit the ground as the defender's foot 'accidentally' tripped him when he stole the ball. The defender with white hair and teal eyes smirked at the fallen boy. He gave a powerful kick that sent the ball flying over everyone's heads and across the field as the defenders raced to stop it.

"I got it!" Hayami yelled, jumping from his spot. The ball was right in front of him and while in the air, Hayami swung his leg over the ball, creating a green forcefield. Like a bowling ball being dropped from the hands of a bowler, the ball half-buried itself into the soil due to the heaviness of the forcefield.

"Hamano, catch!" Hayami shot the ball out of the ground with one sweep kick after the green energy glowing from his foot passed on to the ball. The force field disappeared into green smoke and Hamano received the ball and immediately kicked it to Hiromi who was nearer to the goal.

"Score the point Hiromi!" Nishiki shouted enthusiastically. Hiromi nodded in affirmation.

With the ball in front of her feet, a golden plate appeared from underneath and shot out pink petals. Hiromi wanted to make the shoot quick before anyone could steal in away from her. With a powerful kick, in seconds, the ball was whirled towards the Shizuzuka.

"Oh no, you don't. Disaster Break!"

Shizuzuka slammed his fists on the ground, making it shake and tremble. From his spot, a large crack opened up in the ground and stretched itself. Suddenly, lava and water erupted out of the crack like geysers in an order.

"What!?" Hiromi gasped in shock as she watched the ball collide with the lava in the row. Lava flew everywhere from the strong rolling process of the ball. The ball started to slow down and not a second too soon, it bounced off the ground just at the geysers of lava and water sunk back into the crack the earth immediately sewed back together.

"AND SHIZUZUKA STOPS THE BALL WITH DISASTER BREAK! TRULY A DISASTER IN ONE GO!"

"Don't let them get the ball!" The green haired captain shouted , spotting one of his teammates running towards it.

"We know that you dumbass." Hishikawa, a midfielder with gold dreads and white-beige eyes mumbled bitterly, "Otonashi! Bring it up!" He kicked the ball to the sprinting orange haired forward, who advanced further without question.

"Mizusaki! Akiyama!" He shouted, about to the pass the ball to either one of his fellow forward when he noticed that they were blocked off by Hamano and Ichijuu.

"You're not going anywhere." The voice of the Raimon captain broke through his distracted mind.

"AND OMIWARI STEALS BACK THE BALL! WELL PLAYED! VERY WELL PLAYED!"

"Don't you think he's overexaggerating with the whole ball stealing thing?" Miwana whispered to Kimiko while she eyed the currently glowing commentator. The greenette could only chuckle in reply.

"Nishiki!" The Raimon captain kicked it across the field to the grinning forward. Some of the players from the other team failed in stealing the ball during his pass.

"Gotcha! Come on Vicky, let's go!"

Victor fumed, "Vicky!? This is serious Nishiki-san!"

The Raimon captain chose to ignore them but watch from afar as they advanced towards the goal. He later found himself running beside a certain puzzled brunette,

"Don't look too surprised." Hiromi whipped her head at him, brows furrowed and ready to explode.

"Oh I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't sure which face I should have put on for the occasion," Hiromi growled, screeching to a stop. The Raimon captain followed and was staring into her indignant eyes with a serious face.

"Don't forget. You're the prize of this game and we're doing our best to win." Hiromi balled her hands into fists and watched the Raimon captain speed off to assist the team. He was right, she was the prize, so what was she getting worked up about? Maybe because she just hated his guts?

"Asshole," Hiromi muttered bitterly before the commentator's voice echoed loudly with excitement along with the cheers from her team.

"AND NISHIKI SCORES THE POINT WITH DRAGON NIGHT! IT'S 1 - 2 ON THE SCOREBOARD AND THE GAME CONTINUES WITH THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN'S KICKOFF!"

"Don't let him get the ball Namayaki-san!" Kuroyama roared from his seat. The outburst was enough to startle the poor coldhearted redhead beside him.

"-AND HISHIKAWA IS ABOUT TO SCORE- BUT WAIT! YAMADA INTERJECTS IN AND STEALS THE BALL!"

"Ichijuu!" Yamada alarmed, sending the ball zooming towards the mute boy who gave an 'OK' sign.

Mark stomped furiously over to his fallen teammate, "What the hell was that!? You just let him steal the ball? Are you blind or something!?" Mark exploded, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. Hishikawa wiped the dirt off his nose and scowled at him.

"Hey dude, it's not my fault!" Hishikawa defended as he stood back up only to be kicked in the stomach. Some members of both teams turned their attention to the duo to see what all the commotion was all about.

"Well, you better rethink that, cause it sure as hell was your fault!" Mark glowered and marched away, ignoring the eyes of his peers and opponents on him.

Ookami smirked, "Looks like we have ourselves an advantage." He told his fellow defenders at they watched Hishikawa pick himself up and dust his shorts free of dirt while mumbling under his breath.

Minowari nodded, "Agreed. I predict we'll end this game with a score of 3 - 2," He pushed his glasses up and winked at his teammates, "Raimon's win."

Namayaki clapped his hands loudly, "Then let's do this." He proclaimed with a determined smile.

"AND ICHIJUU PASSES THE BALL TO HIROMI WHO KICKS IT TO VICTOR!"

The captain had ordered them to make short passes across the field and their opponents were getting aggravated when they failed to steal the ball from them, Hiromi noted.

"Hamano-san! Over here!" Hiromi shouted. Hamano quickly passed the ball and nearly missed being injured by a furious defender who tried to claim the ball for her team.

The ball rolled over to her feet, but before she could kick it to someone else, Mark roughly pushed past Hiromi, causing her to lose her footing while he successfully stole the ball and advanced towards the goal with his teammates on hot pursuit. Hiromi growled under her breath.

"AND MARK STEALS THE BALL FROM HIROMI!"

Mark glanced behind his shoulder to see Hiromi far away but chasing after him. When he turned back, he noticed his teammates occupied both his sides.

"Pass the ball, Mark! We're going to shoot!" Mizusaki ordered, but Mark snorted in response.

"In your dreams! I'm going to make the shoot since none of you pathetic idiots can even steal a ball from short passes!" He scowled back which rendered her speechless

Otonashi cut in before angered bluenette could protest, "Mark, there's no time for arguments! Let us have the ball, we'll score for sure!"

"Oh, getting ahead of yourselves huh? Why don't you piss off Otonashi? I'm making the shoot and that's final!" He left his shocked teammates in a dust as they slowed down their pace.

"Ahead of ourselves!?" Mizusaki fumed, "That little arrogant brat's going to make us lose!" She exclaimed. Otonashi frowned in agreement.

"All we can do now is knock some sense into their thick skull's of his." He said.

"Ugh! That asshole and his big ego." Mizusaki complained before the two forwards left their spots to assist him just in case. Most, unfortunately, Mark turned around and saw them coming. His eyes lit up indignantly.

"I'm making the damn shoot!" He grumbled irritatedly to himself. He wasn't aware he was blindly running with the ball.

"Distracted much?" A voice asked mockingly. Mark felt the ball slip from his grasp when Yamada effortlessly tackled the ball away from him. Mark screeched to a stop and was left widemouthed.

"Omiwari! Make the shoot!" Yamada yelled, giving the ball a nice powerful kick that sent it flying above everyone's heads until it reached the captain's feet. The Raimon captain looked back and nodded. He shifted his attention back to the goal and involuntarily caught sight of Victor running ahead of him and glanced at Shizuzuka who had his eyes on him like a predator. A plan suddenly formulated in his head and decided to test it.

Omiwari steered himself to the middle of the field. Once he felt he was far enough from the goal for his plan to work, he abruptly crouched down on the, his arms spread out and eyes closed. He summoned his daggers to shoot out of the ground and circle the ball until in was brought up to his face. Omiwari's eyes shot open and with a strong kick, he caught the attention of many incredulous players by propelling the ball straight at a certain navy haired player.

"Victor!" Victor looked over his shoulder at the sound of the captain's call and went pale the instant he saw the ball hurling and daggers pointing dangerously at him. His mind planned to run faster or jump out of the way, but his body thought otherwise.

Victor screeched to a halt and subconsciously lifted his leg without knowing his foot lit up with orange flames. With one powerful sweep of his leg, he set the ball and daggers on fire and directed them towards the goal.

Shizuzuka who went agape at the blazing ball didn't react in time to stop it from entering the goal missing him by his ear.

"GOOOOOAAAAAAL!" The commentator screamed joyously while punching the air, "AN AMAZING COMBINATION OF DAGGER ARK AND BLAZING FIRE! THE SCORE IS NOW 2-2! WILL RAIMON SCORE ANOTHER POINT, OR WILL IT GO TO THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN!?"

Shingestu smiled proudly as he watched his players on the field celebrate in triumph of their second point. They only needed one more point and Hiromi would be safe. The Raimon coach shifted his attention to the other team and much to his astonishment, the Imperial Domain was biting his thumb agitatedly and had a dark look on his face as he watched the field. Shingestu sensed something suspicious and looked at the benched players who all wore stoic faces.

"He's up to something isn't he?" The coach turned around to see Naomi with brows furrowed at Giovanni.

Shingestu turned back to look at the coach who suddenly wore a sinister smile, "It may seem so. Let's hope he doesn't pull out any cheat tricks from of under his sleeves."

While Raimon was busy celebrating, the sound of the whistle suddenly blew out, disrupting their cheers.

Whipping their heads, they saw the referee hold up a player change board with the number 1 in red and a number 16 in green. Almost everyone's eyes bulged out in disbelief.

"IT LOOKS LIKE THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN HAS CHOSEN TO SWITCH GOALKEEPERS. AND THE SUBSTITUTE GOALKEEPER IS- WHAAAAAAAAT!? SHIZUZUKA'S YOUNGER BROTHER!?"

All eyes landed on the green haired goalkeeper who stood frozen in shock and staring at the board with the glowing numbers that were more than real in his shrunk and disbelieving eyes.

Shingestu whirled his head at the Imperial Domain coach, eyes slightly shrunk. Giovanni spotted the look he was being given and curled his lips back into a wicked smile.

The player that was the current goalkeeper's younger brother stood proudly from his seat while he tightened his gloves. His looks resembled Shizuzuka as he waltzed right towards the field, a broadening smirk on his face.

He wore a snow white goalkeeper jersey with green shorts, his hair green but duller than his brother's and grey eyes that shone with nothing but power and winning.

"Shizuzuka Seiji." Hiromi heard Hayami speak in a dark tone. She whipped her head at him to see him wear a serious look on his face. His eyes solely on the younger brother who took his place in front of the goal.

"The Demon of the Imperial Domain."

Hiromi turned back with furrowed brows at the substitute goalkeeper.

'Demon, huh?' She thought, watching the goalkeeper tighten his gloves again and hunched slightly in alert. Hiromi swore she saw an evil glint in his eyes when he glanced at her, 'Let's see how you do your job, Shizuzuka Seiji.'

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  **Audience be like: _"Shizuzuka has a brother!? WHAAAT!?"_**

**Ehehe... I may have gotten too caught up in the story. I promise you Part 3 is the last chapter, I PROMISE. If I break it, you can send a thousand daggers to kill me because I am trash... Yup :p**

**Feel free to comment and maybe give me some advice on how to improve my writing or just point out mistakes I made.**


	10. Chapter 9: Imperial Domain Part 3

**I'm back.... after about four months of inactivity.**

**Hey there, sorry for wait** **I had my exams and project piling up and also it because I didn't have any idea how to go on. I think now I have a clear mind on what's going to happen in my story, so for now enjoy this chapter while you wait another 3 months for the next chapter :)**

***whispers* I was kidding. Please comment and give me advice**

* * *

 

Mark pulled the orange band up his right arm with a satisfied grin. He had been assigned the captain of the team since Shizuzuka was benched.

'For now,' Hiromi reminded herself. She cast a glance at the benched goalkeeper with his head downcasted and an expression of a fighting spirit long gone.

The referee returned to his position and blew the whistle.

"AND OFF THEY GO! IMPERIAL DOMAIN COMES IN STRONG! WITH ONLY A FEW MINUTES LEFT ON THE CLOCK BOTH TEAMS ARE FIGHTING TO WIN THE FINAL POINT!"

"Hishikawa!" Akiyama yelled to the sprinting midfielder. The golden haired boy nodded and surpassed the redhead with the ball in his possession.

Ijimaru caught up to Hishikawa a good distance away from each other. Before he could shout out to him, the captain suddenly appeared, running beside him.

"Hishikawa, pass the ball!"

Ijimaru fumed, "Mark, what the hell!?"

"I'm making the point, whether you like it or not!" Mark snapped and roughly bashed into him. Ijimaru stumbled and fell on the ground. He watched as Mark received the ball and bolt off. Blood boiling, Ijimaru picked himself up and gave chase to the captain.

Ichijuu dashed in from the side to steal the ball, but Mark noticed him and jumped over him with the ball between his feet.

"AND DOMAIN ESCAPES ICHIJUU'S SLIDE! THERE HE GOES, ADVANCING THROUGH THE FIELD- BUT WAIT! WHY ISN'T HE PASSING THE BALL TO ANY OF HIS TEAMMATES!?"

True as it was, Mark was surrounded by his teammates from all sides, each one ordering him to pass the ball to either one of them as they ran.

"Shut up." Mark growled, trying to ignore his teammates, but he finally snapped at Ijimaru's overly infuriate voice.

"Goddammit Mark! Just pass the damn ball already!"

Mark buried his spikes in the ground, coming to an abrupt stop. His teammates didn't react quickly enough and the moment they turned back to him, he was already preparing a kick- a kick to the opposite side!

"Domain, what are you doing!?" Mizusaki yelled demandingly, but her voice fell on his deaf ears. Mark had his leg raised high behind him and in seconds, his leg strongly came down to meet the ball.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!? DOMAIN KICKS THE BALL TO THEIR SIDE OF THE FIELD AND IT'S HEADING STRAIGHT FOR THE GOAL!" The commentator screamed and removed his sunglasses to get a better look with his tiny eyes.

Hiromi watched the ball fly over her head and followed it until her attention shifted to the ponytailed forward.

"Nishiki-san!"

Nishiki saw it too and jumped to headbutt it away, unfortunately, he wasn't able to reach it.

"Omiwari it's coming your way!" Nishiki alerted.

The Raimon captain was already way ahead as he rushed to the middle of the field to angle himself at the ball. He couldn't let Domain score a goal for them, not like this. Deep down he knew, Domain must've planned this!

Omiwari leapt from his spot to perform a kick, but from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of an evil smile behind him. And he realized, he was too near.

"ROCK SLIDE!"

Before anyone knew it, mountains began to shoot out from ground, each one rising higher and higher than the last. Until one of them managed to jab the Raimon captain in the back.

"THE CAPTAIN OF RAIMON HAS BEEN INJURED BY ROCK SLIDE!"

Omiwari let out another agonizing cry of pain when he hit the ground after being flung in the air. His teammates rushed to aid at full speed.

"Omiwari!" Nishiki cried worriedly, on all four as watched the captain clutch his leg. Something fresh was oozing out of it.

"Captain... your leg..." Hamano began, turning pale at the amount of blood escaping from his injured leg. Nishiki and Victor lifted the injured captain off the ground.

"Yeah, he got me on the leg too," Omiwari said, hissing in pain again.

"Ichijuu's right. We need to get you to the managers, quick." Hamano translated Ichijuu's signs. Hiromi stood up from crouching, about to agree when the captain spoke up.

"No. Let me play."

Silence...

"Are you out of your mind!?" Nishiki exclaimed outrageously, "You're injured and you think you can just go out there and play!?"

Omiwari protested, "It's just a cut, I'll be fine-"

"Listen to Nishiki-san captain," Victor interrupted gently, "You can barely stand on your own with a cut that deep and your back-."

"I can still play," Omiwari insisted looking almost desperate, "I'll be fine-"

"Shut. Up." The five boys whipped their heads to the stern voice. Hiromi had her arms crossed and an irritated look on her face, "You can't win this. We all know you're injured and can't play, so stop begging and just accept that." She said.

Taken aback, Omiwari attempted to snap back at her. But Hiromi wasn't taking any more bullshit and silenced him with a hand.

"You may be the captain, but we know what's best," She said with a fierce tone, "We're taking you to the bench whether you like it or not."

Omiwari's face scrunched up in annoyance and rage, as he glared coldly at her. However, she was being practical about his situation. Everyone was too. He was injured and he couldn't play with a bleeding leg, let alone an almost broken and painful back.

Omiwari slowly glanced back at his teammates' worried expressions. They were all worried. Omiwari sighed and hung his head in defeat.

"Fine. Hand the band to Ookami."

With relieved yet pitiful smiles, Nishiki and Victor brought the captain to the bench who swapped places with Akashi. Ichijuu immediately handed the captain's band to the blue haired strategist who accepted it humbly while Hamano and Hiromi returned to their positions.

Glancing over her shoulder, Hiromi spotted the referee pulling out a yellow card at the younger Shizuzuka as a warning.

'Demon.' Hiromi narrowed her eyes dangerously as the younger Shizuzuka brushed off the yellow card like it was nothing, 'He really does live up to that title.'

The referee blew the whistle again to continue the game.

"Hey wimps, catch!" Shizuzuka hollered rudely at his teammates, drawing his arm back before throwing the ball towards the field.

"We're not wimps!" Eitoshi Yaya, a defender with orange hair and purple eyes retorted furiously after catching the ball. Her eyes scanned the field and found themselves on the back of a white haired boy ahead of her, "Oh! Ronald, catch!"

She sent the ball zooming towards the boy who merely glanced over his shoulder and easily received the ball.

"Ron, pass it here!" Otonashi, who was just across him waved to get his attention. Without hesitating, Whiteman kicked the ball over to the orange haired forward who immediately brought it up with his fellow forwards tagging behind him for assistance.

But then, just like lighting, a blur passed Otonashi by and he realized the ball had been stolen. Instantly believing that it was one of their opponents who stole it, Otonashi screech to a halt and wheeled his head at the figure.

"MARK DOMAINNNNNN! Quit stealing the ball from us you jackass!" Mizusaki pointed at him and stomped her foot in frustration.

"Fine. Take it then." He said casually, kicking the ball to Akiyama's feet. The three forwards look dumbstruck at the ball before back at him. His back faced at them and hands lazily tucked behind his head, "You wanted me to pass the ball to you so much, so there."

Otonashi, Mizusaki and Akiyama were too stunned to reply or even move.

"Actually, you know what? Let them have the ball." Mark continued, devising a plan, "We have the legendary demon on the field. I doubt we have to put much effort into playing now."

Mizusaki blinked, stupefied, "Not much effort? NOT MUCH EFFORT!? GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE GUTTERS YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-"

"Clarify Domain." Otonashi quickly demanded, interrupting the bluenette before she could cause another uproar.

Mark spun around an evil smirk that had been waiting for its appearance, "You heard me. We have an advantage here, why not rest our legs and let Shizuzuka do the job. He can stop any ball from entering the goal. We'll just tire our opponents until they can't fight anymore." His eyes suddenly became visible through his goggles, "Unless... You want to tell me my brilliant idea is unacceptable."

Otonashi glanced at his friends before back at their captain, "So as you say Domain. You're right, he can stop any ball and it's not a bad idea either, but..." He didn't miss the smug smile, and he didn't miss the eyes of the Raimon captain paying close attention to them. But he wasn't finished, "That is not an excuse to purposely and extremely injure our opponents so that we can have the upper hand. Don't play dumb with me Domain, I've seen you and Shizuzuka play dirty before on every field. In every match. Rest all you want, you might as well be benched from you stand."

At that moment, Akiyama and Mizusaki decided to take their leave with the ball, leaving their friend to handle the captain alone. Otonashi furrowed his brows in return to Mark's scowl.

"This is supposed to be a team effort, but I don't see it from either you or Shizuzuka." Otonashi continued acidly, "You want to play your game? Fine. But the rest of us are sick of following your rules. We won't let you have your way with us, we're not your pawns anymore."

Otonashi turned to sprint after his friends but lingered at his spot for a little longer.

"Take this as a warning."

Without another word, the forward dashed off to regroup with his friends. He didn't need to see the captain's hands turned into fists.

"AND MINOWARI STEALS THE BALL! OH, IT'S REALLY CLOSE NOW! CAN RAIMON FIGHT BACK WITH ONLY A FEW MINUTES?"

"Short passes, now!" Ookami ordered as Minowari kicked the ball ahead to Yamada who was closer and passed it on to Nishiki. Nishiki avoided an opponent and passed the ball to Victor who passed it to Akashi.

"AND RAIMON SLOWLY ADVANCES FURTHER WITH SHORT PASSES!" The commentator announced, "BUT WILL RAIMON SUCCEED OR WILL THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN FINALLY STEAL THE BALL?"

Being the closest, Hiromi received the ball and sprinted forward without a second thought. The brunette glanced back at the midfielder who tried to steal the ball and smirked. They were going to win this match! She was sure of it when her teammate suddenly cried out.

"Hiromi, look ahead!"

The moment she tossed her head forward, Hiromi didn't catch the face of the blur who tripped her and stole the ball.

Hiromi clenched her teeth in pain when she impacted with the ground. She cast a quick glance at her ankle which thankfully wasn't injured. The sound of someone snickering made her shift her attention behind her. And she wasn't in the least surprised at the person.

"How's it like to be grounded, pigtails?" Mark taunted, the ball in his possession and looking down at the brunette who glared daggers at him, "Speechless? I'm not surprised. Everyone always is."

Hiromi saw an evil glint in his eyes through his goggles, "Of course, I'll be glad to steal your victory from you. Give it up pigtails, the Imperial Domain is the strongest team in the world, you can't beat us."

Hiromi said nothing and continued to glare. Mark scoffed at her reaction. As he was about to turn around, he wasn't aware of someone bolting towards him and...

"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS! AKIYAMA FROM THE IMPERIAL DOMAIN STEALS THE BALL FROM THEIR CAPTAIN!?"

"WHAT!?" Mark exclaimed, wheeling his head to see the forward already bolting for their defense. Mark grit his teeth and clenched his fists, "That bastard." He grumbled under his breath before dashing after Akiyama.

After Mark left in a hurry to stop his teammate, Hiromi immediately picked herself up and stare off, speechless. She was shaken out of it when Ookami's piercing voice shouted at them to score the point and dashed off to their opponents' defense.

The defenders were in a bad position as they were too stunned. They watch as their captain and Raimon catch up to the redhead.

"What are you idiots doing? Stop him!" Their captain raged. The defense was hesitant but didn't have to do anything because Akiyama's attention shifted and kicked the ball away before Mark could rob it from him.

"Hishikawa!"

Hishikawa's chest collided with the ball and it fell. The midfielder's face scrunched up with uncertainty and lift his head to see Mark after him, yelling.

"Hishikawa! Give me the ball!"

Panicked and unsure, the gold haired boy tossed and turned his head as if he was trying to find someone who could help. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Nishiki behind him. His eyes moved back to his captain who neared him and finally made his decision; he kicked the ball to Raimon's forward!

"NO!" Mark bellowed.

"Yes!" Nishiki cried as he easily leaped passed a dumbfounded defender and came face to face with the goalkeeper.

The younger Shizuzuka snarled, "Come at me ponytail! I can stop your ball anytime, anywhere." His lips curling into an overly confident grin.

Nishiki scoffed, "In your dreams. Akashi!" Nishiki sent the ball zooming across the goal towards the redhead forward who jumped out of nowhere to shoot the ball.

"SMOKE ERUPTION!" Thick, red smoke erupted from the red ball and swallowed up the entire goal and Shizuzuka.

There was a moment of dead silence on the field. All eyes glued on to the red smoke as it started to clear out. The first thing everyone saw left them thunderstruck. The younger Shizuzuka's wrists and ankles were handcuffed by rings of mossy rock that were chained to the ground as he tried to wrestled himself free.

"LOOK! THE BALL IS IN!" The commentator shrieked, pointing at the ball in the goal, "RAIMON WINS! RAIMON WINS THE MATCH!"

The winning team stood speechless at their win but before they could react or say a word, a thunderous scream beat them to it.

"No No NO! This can't be!" Everyone's attention shifted to the infuriated Imperial Domain coach. He was clutching the brim of his hat close to his temples while glaring daggers at the ground, "We should have won! US!"

His eyes rolled up and locked themselves on his players watching him, "You... You bastards." He began to walk up to them like a zombie. He grabbed the closest player and lifted them by the collar, "YOU BASTARDS! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE!? WE WERE SUPPOSED TO WIN! THAT WAS OUR POINT!"

"You listen to me. You follow MY orders. I was supposed to WIN! I was supposed to have that brunette and I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET THE LOAD OF MONEY ONCE I HANDED HER AWAY TO THE BOSS!

He threw his player on the ground and watched as they ran away in fear and pain. His teeth bared and eyes with the intent to kill. He didn't realize the sudden silence he created.

"So that was your intention all along." The firm voice of player brought Giovanni back to reality and look up at the orange haired player, "I suspected you had something up your sleeve, coach."

Suddenly, Giovanni began to grin madly, "You... You commanded them to let Raimon win, didn't you? I should've kept a close eye on you. You were always trouble weren't you Otonashi."

The forward narrowed his eyes disgustedly at the coach. Two players cautiously approached the coach from behind and held him back by his arms, "I think it's the other way around. You played us like puppets and filled our heads with lies. I didn't involve my teammates in my decision, they acted on their own accord and it just so happened that Raimon won. Consider everything you've worked for gone because we quit."

Giovanni's face turned serious, "You can't quit! I won't let any of you waltz right out of my hands. I'll even harm everything you love if it's to keep you in the Imperial Domain! YOU WILL STAY IN THIS TEAM AND THAT IS FINAL!"

Otonashi clenched his teeth and hands, "Mizusaki, Akiyama, escort the other team outside, I want to deal with him myself."

His two friends who stood behind him looked at him with uncertainty before the blunette said to the redhead, "I'll stay with him to make sure his head's in the right place. You go on."

Akiyama returned an amused smile, "Pretty ironic for you to say that Mizusaki. Make sure he doesn't do anything reckless."

"I hear ya, I hear ya. Now get going."

"Come on, we're escorting you out." Shingetsu's focus broke from the situation transpiring and looked down to see Akiyama beside him. The redhead glanced back at the scene, "There's nothing left to see here."

Shingestu looked back at the redhead's direction with concern before nodding. With a steady voice, he called out to his team. He, Naomi, Akiyama and Omiwari stayed behind to make sure every member of the team exited the stadium.

"Come on." Hiromi jolted from her thoughts when a hand touched her shoulder. With eyes of still full of shock, she slowly turned to see Victor beside her, "Let's go."

Victor stayed by Hiromi's side until they met up with Sora and Kuroyama who waited for them at the exit. The four friends ignored Omiwari's gaze on the brunette as they exited the stadium. He followed shortly after them with Ookami supporting him.

The trip through the tunnel was silent as their footsteps echoed with each step they took. Once they were outside, Sora released Hiromi's arm and scurried after Akiyama.

"Um.. excuse me, but what's going to happen to Coach Giovanni? I-If you don't mind me asking." She added hastily. Akiyama eyed her before replied solemnly, "That madman's going to jail, that's for sure. We've already contacted the police so they should be here any minute now."

"And what about your team?" Ookami asked. By now, everyone had gathered around Akiyama for answers.

"Most of us plan to switch schools after this whole fiasco's over and hopefully shut down the club too."

"Shut it down? Would the school even allow that?" Namayaki quickly spoke up.

"With enough evidence, the school doesn't even stand a chance. We've always suspected that that madman was up to no good and done some snooping around and gathering things we could use against him. We even have a recording of his entire confession. He can't talk his way out of this."

Nobody seemed to ask any questions after that and lowered their heads to the ground.

"There's really nothing for you all to worry about. Just focus on getting into the finals for the Holy Road." Akiyama said before stealing a glance at Hiromi, "And make sure your brunette friend over there looks after herself. It'd be a shame to see a valued player not being able to participate in the matches."

While hiding his surprise at the redhead's kind advice, Shingestu stepped forward and nodded, "Will do. You take care of yourself too."

Akiyama nodded back and watched each member board the caravan before rushing to stop one of them.

"Wait up." Hiromi turned around to see Akiyama holding her back with his hand on her shoulder, "There's something I want to tell you. In private." His eyes moved to Victor who narrowed his eyes back almost protectively.

"Just go. I'll be fine." Hiromi whispered which rendered the navy haired worried. Victor finally gave in and retreated back to the caravan, making sure to tell the driver to wait for Hiromi.

"What is it?" Hiromi turned to the redhead.

Akiyama inhaled, "Look, I can tell you really don't want to stay here any longer so I'll get straight to the point. During our investigation in our ex- coach's office, we rummaged through his drawers and found this." Akiyama pulled out a yellow sticky note from his pocket and handed it to Hiromi.

Hiromi's eyes widened and then narrowed in confusion when she read the note; there were 6 circles, one was in the middle while the rest surrounded it with arrows pointing at it. The middle circle had the letter and number MH10 while the five circles had GA1, KK7, KM18, FH20 and GG43 with arrows pointing at the middle circle.

"What even is this?" Hiromi inquired, looking at the redhead who shook his head in reply. Just as clueless as her.

"No idea. No one could figure out what it meant and it's not like our ex-coach would tell us anyways. And it was the only evidence I managed to sneak away from the others before they could give it to the police." Akiyama added.

"...Then why are you giving it to me?" Hiromi flicked her wrist with the note still in her hand while she gave him a hard look, "You're hiding important evidence from the police. Wouldn't it be better to give it to them?"

"...I dunno. I just sorta have this gut feeling that you'd be able to solve the note instead of the police." Akiyama said, his eyes averted to the ground and rubbing his neck. And she wasn't going to lie, she saw a faint blush colour his cheeks.

"Well, thanks. You guys aren't as bad as I thought you'd be." Hiromi thanked, stealing a glimpse at the note in her hand.

"Stay safe." Akiyama said with a smile as Hiromi nodded and replied with, "You too." before boarding the caravan. The caravan's doors closed and drove away from the school in a matter of seconds until the school was nothing but a dot in the distance.

Hiromi sat on the outside since Sora had herself seated beside the window. With her back bent forward, chin resting on her free hand and inspecting the note in her other hand.

'Just what the hell does all these numbers and letters mean?' Hiromi jerked away from her thoughts when Sora's hand touched her shoulder and asked, "Hiromi. Are you alright?"

Hiromi immediately hid the note from the bluentte's eyes by stashing it in her jacket's sleeve, "O-Oh yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine. Just shaken up, you know. I just- I just need some time for myself." Hiromi said, looking down at the floor.

Thankfully, Sora didn't ask or reach out to her again and silently pulled out the note. Rubbing her temple slightly in frustration, Hiromi stared at the note.

'Someone's after me and they've sent their goons to find me. The coach can't be one of them, he was just as surprised. I gotta talk to someone about this.' Her eyes averted to the navy haired boy sitting across her and looking out of the window in deep thought.

That's when she realized how quiet the team had gone

* * *

 

Omiwari listened to the heavy silence of his team and eyed Namayaki who stared out of the window.

Sighing, Omiwari leaned back in his seat and let his thoughts take him back to the day he confronted the Tenton captain.

 

\- Flashback -

 

After Hiromi had left, Omiwari decided to come out of hiding and approach the crestfallen Tenton captain.

"Natsukata."

The Tenton captain's head shot up and spun his head at his name.

"Omiwari?" Natsukata said, shocked to see the Raimon captain there with him, "What are you still doing here?"

Omiwari arched an eyebrow to make it look like he didn't know anything, "I had to lock up the rooms." He answered, before leaning against the wall near the gate, "Although, I could ask you the same question. What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Well, you know... Hehe... I just thought it'd be nice to... um... visit a... a friend! Yeah! I thought I'd visit a friend!" Natsukata grinned nervously, but Omiwari obviously wasn't going to fall for it.

"Really? When I came out, I thought I saw one of my student with you. You two seemed to have gotten into a heated fight. Your friend wouldn't have gotten into an argument with you unless there was a reason." Omiwari narrowed his eyes at the captain across him, "That student wouldn't happen to be a player who got into the soccer club, would it?"

Natsukata swallowed and averted his eyes, "Uh... I don't know who you're talking about. S-She's just a student here in the school. Me and my friend just got into a silly argument. That's all. Maybe it was because I showed up at the wrong time, you know. I-I mean school's pretty stressful and-"

Omiwari cut off his pathetic attempt to fool him, "Save the act for later. It was Hiromi wasn't it?"

Natsukata immediately closed his mouth and scratched his neck. He hung his head, defeated, "How much did you hear?"

"Everything."

"Oh."

The two captains stood in silence before Natsukata spoke up again, "So what do you want?"

Omiwari relaxed and replied, "From what I heard, there's something going on that involves her, doesn't it? If that's the case, I want to help."

In just a millisecond, Natsukata's head shot up in disbelief, "You? Help? Why? What does any of this have to do with you? If anything I could just ask you to forget you even heard our conversation-" Natsukata cut himself off and inhaled, "Okay, look. I don't want to involve a person into this problem, alright? The more people there are, the more dangerous it'd be for Hiromi."

Stubbornly, Omiwari shook his head, "I'm helping and that's final. I can't forget everything I heard, nor do I even plan on telling anyone. I want to help."

"But why?"

The Raimon captain shrugged, "Can't I help my fellow teammate out?"

"That's not your real reason is it?"

"...Of course not." Omiwari mumbled before extending his hand out, "So do we have a deal?"

Natsukata eyed the waiting hand before reluctantly shaking it, "Deal. But I'm going to have to start from the beginning in order for you to understand our situation."

"I've got time."

Natsukata rolled his eyes, suspecting it as a lie, "Right. But not here. We can go to my house, it's safer there. And since my dad's involved too, it'd be a lot easier to explain."

The Tenton captain led the way as Omiwari followed closely behind.

"So what's your history with Hiromi?" The Raimon captain asked and Natsukata turned back with a fond smile.

"We used to be friends when we were younger. What about you? I've heard there was some bad blood between you two during this week."

Omiwari smirked, "We thoroughly hate each other." Omiwari almost thought he heard Natsukata mumble along these lines.

"Funny. She couldn't hate anyone when she was younger."


	11. Pause on Story

Okay... so here's the thing. I'm going to be putting a pause on writing my InaGen story. I don't know for how long exactly but there's just so much going on with my life, either I don't have time, I'm just a lazy bum or I have no idea how to continue the story.

However I'm not going to quit writing it.

I'm stubborn and maybe it might be best if I don't continue, but this was the first story I've put so much effort in and I don't want to see it go to waste. I'm thinking of re-writing the story again but I can't promise that the storyline or the way I write will be the same. I've also still got a lot of ideas and other stories I want to write after this one and I'm thinking of drawing some comic strips of my story because I feel more confident in my art style.

Now for the real reason. As time passed, I've made some changes to my characters and storyline (not sure whether it'll be the same like this one as I've mentioned). I want to explore more into my characters' backgrounds, re think and plan the plot, do more research so that the story will fit with its timeline and re-write some scenes I felt unhappy with or were very cringey. This might be natural to many writers but I personally feel I can do better and improve more. I'm still trying to find the style of writing I'm comfortable with. (Feel free to advise me, agree or disagree with me, but my mind is set and it's not changing.)

I apologize to my readers who followed my story or are waiting for the next chapter but I really, really think I can do better and I don't want to keep making such small and sudden changes in story as it continues; pretty sure it'll be frustrating for the both of us. I'm not sure whether you'll still be around to read the re-write of the story but I'm glad that you read this story at least, it was one of things that really motivated me to keep writing.

I may be posting some short stories or one-shots of anime shows, my ships or maybe some InaGen stories. I'm also planning to post some of my art of the InaGen (character design, settings, etc) on my tumblr (http://imaginationworld2000.tumblr.com/) so you can stay tune if any of you are interested.

I'm currently busy with school work since final exams are coming so I might not be posting very soon or anything at all but I'll try to update as much as I can so you have something to look forward to.

Thanks for reading this note and I'll see you soon (hopefully)!


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